A Camden mother who lost an arm and a leg during a horrific incident on the London Underground has filed a compensation claim against Transport for London.
Sarah de Lagarde has brought forward a 鈥渧ery high value鈥 personal injury claim to the High Court after she suffered a life-changing incident at High Barnet station in September 2022.
At the time of the incident, Ms de Lagarde was travelling home late at night when she slipped and fell between the platform gap and an Underground train, which then ran her over as it pulled out of the station.
As no one reportedly saw the incident, she was then run over by a second train as it pulled into the station, resulting in her losing both an arm and a leg.
Ms de Largarde told reporters: 鈥淚 was run over and crushed by not one, but two London Underground trains on the Northern Line.
鈥淢iraculously, I survived, but it cost me dearly: the first train took my arm, and the second train took my leg. That night I also lost my mobility, my independence, my dignity and above all my ability to hug my two young children with both arms.鈥
In nearly three years since the incident, Ms de Lagarde claims to have suffered from mental health truama, and accused TfL of 鈥渂ullying鈥.
Although her lawyers say the claim has yet to be valued, TfL鈥檚 legal team claim it comes 鈥渃onservatively in excess of 拢25m鈥.
Addressing the claim, the mother of two also said it was about something much bigger than her own case: 鈥淪tanding here today, I feel like David against Goliath. It’s intimidating and traumatising for me to relive these moments. But I am compelled to speak out, not just for myself but for everyone else affected by these incidents, which are not so rare as TfL make out.鈥
Prashant Popat KC, for TfL, said at the hearing: 鈥淥ur response is that this is a tragic case in which the claimant sustained some horrific injuries.
鈥淣othing I say today seeks to diminish the consequences of what has been sustained and suffered by the claimant.鈥 TfL is pleading contributory negligence.
A Freedom of Information request answered by TfL in February 2025 revealed that between April 2020 and March 2024, almost 14,000 personal injuries were recorded across a broad range of stations on the London Underground.
This data included customers and people working for TfL, but the majority of cases related to passengers.
Of the nearly 14,000 incidents recorded, around 370 of these cases were considered 鈥渟erious鈥.
The report notes a number of causes, including slips, trips, falls, falling objects, track incidents, people being taken ill, passenger train interference and assaults. These happened in many locations in the Underground, including escalators, platforms and even the toilets.
The most common injury-causing incidents were slips/trips/falls.
While some incidents were recorded at 鈥榰nknown鈥 locations, the data suggests that Waterloo, King’s Cross, and Victoria were some of the most incident-prone stations.
Across the four-year period, there were around 516 recorded incidents at Waterloo, 501 at King鈥檚 Cross, 394 at Victoria and 282 at Oxford Circus.
This aligns with some of the capital鈥檚 busiest Underground stations.
Of those, King鈥檚 Cross appears to have recorded the highest number of 鈥榮erious鈥 injuries, followed by London Bridge and Victoria.
Alongside the FOI data, TfL said: 鈥淭he safety of our staff and customers is our top priority, and safety on TfL鈥檚 rail network is comparable to that of mainline UK rail services鈥.
鈥淲e are never complacent, and continuously strive to reduce injuries and ensure our customers travel safely across the network. We have done a lot to understand the key locations, issues and contributory factors which lead to customer injuries, particularly as customers board and alight our trains.
鈥淭o reduce numbers of safety incidents, we focus on both influencing customer behaviour and changing our infrastructure where possible to reduce the risk.鈥
A total of 943 people filed personal injury claims between April 2020 and December 2024 due to incidents at TFL-operated stations, based on the FOI report. However, it鈥檚 worth noting this also runs through the pandemic when lockdowns limited travel during some periods.
One of the most significant payouts that TfL made due to injuries cost 拢2,352,872.78.