A DISABLED Olympic Games hopeful has launched a damages claim of more than £300,000 against a doctor and Southend Hospital NHS Trust.

Wheelchair-bound Robin Womack, 36, who is paralysed from the waist down, is hoping to win a place in the Great Britain paralympic team travelling to Beijing in China, next summer.

But the shot-putter, of Castleton Road, Southend, faces an even bigger battle after taking his claim for compensation to London's High Court.

Mr Womack claims a negligent delay in diagnosing his condition properly meant his spinal cord was compressed, leading to paralysis.

He now believes he could lose around 12 years off his life expectancy.

A court writ has been issued by the keen Southend United fan, who trains at the town's Garon athletics track, in Eastern Avenue, against Dr Christopher Goodchild, who he visited in spring 2002, complaining his left leg had given way and he had fallen downstairs. Mr Womack said he consulted the GP twice more as his condition deteriorated during the winter of 2002.

He said his leg felt "dead" and painful, with pins and needles, and by February 2003 he required crutches and had to drive in an adapted vehicle.

Dr Goodchild suggested he had osteoarthritis and referred him, non-urgently, to an orthopaedic department at Southend Hospital, the writ says.

Mr Womack, who is now dependent on a wheelchair, doesn't remember the GP carrying out a detailed examination of his leg and says the doctor's records between March 1999 and September 2002 are missing.

An orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital recorded he had a generalised loss of sensation and power in both legs, which he did not believe was related to his knee, and recommended urgent investigation.

The writ accuses Dr Goodchild of negligently failing to examine him and failing to appreciate the possibility of spinal damage. Southend NHS Trust is also accused of negligently failing to carry out an MRI scan of Mr Womack's entire thoracic spine and not realising the scan was incomplete.

It is also claimed Mr Womack faced delays in getting proper treatment of his cord compression for many weeks as a result of negligence.

Mr Womack, who trains at Culley's Gym, Hockley, is ranked number one in his field for Great Britain.

The Echo was unable to contact Dr Goodchild.