Woman loses £650k insurance claim for car crash injuries after being pictured throwing Christmas tree

Judge rules that Kamila Grabska’s claims of debilitating injury were ‘completely at odds’ with the evidence

Kamila Grabska is seen as she wins the ladies section in the seventh annual Christmas Tree throwing Championships in Ennis, Co Clare, in 2018 (Eamon Ward/SWNS)

A court in Ireland has dismissed a woman’s £650,000 injury claim after a photograph emerged of her winning a Christmas tree-throwing competition.

Kamila Grabska, 36, said that her severe back and neck injuries from a car crash in 2017 prevented her from working and playing with her children. She had sued an insurance company, alleging that her injuries put a stop to her normal life for over five years.

However, the high court in Limerick, Ireland, dismissed her claim after the photograph surfaced of her winning the Christmas tree-throwing competition.

The judge found her claims exaggerated, the Irish Independent reported.

Justice Carmel Stewart was presented with evidence of Ms Grabska’s participation in the 2018 event, where she was seen throwing a 5ft spruce. The image, which had been featured in a national newspaper, led the judge to conclude the claims were “entirely exaggerated”.

“It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement,” the judge said.

“I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim.”

Ms Grabska reportedly also admitted to the judge that she had won the competition. In the Christmas tree-throwing competition, participants compete to see who can hurl a spruce the farthest.

There was further evidence of her being physically active that contradicted her account, according to the paper. The evidence presented to the judge included a video of her training her Dalmatian in November last year in a park.

The judge ruled that Ms Grabska’s post-accident activities were “completely at odds” with her injury claims, leading to the dismissal of her case against the insurance company.

The court was informed that Ms Grabska, from Ennis, County Clare, had left her job and had been receiving disability benefits.

Ms Grabska refuted the idea that she had faked her injuries and told the court that her intention was just to “lead a normal life”.