The deceased, Michael Henry Russell, sustained severe multiple injuries, including brain damage, in a motor vehicle collision on 16 August 1989. After prolonged hospitalisation, he lived with his family but exhibited profound personality and behavioural changes, including depression, irritability, impaired judgment and suicidal tendencies. Following attempted suicides, he was admitted to a nursing home. In January 1991, after being informed that his prospects of recovery and future employment were nil, he committed suicide by jumping from a second-storey parapet. His widow instituted claims against the Road Accident Fund, including a claim on behalf of their minor children for loss of support. The Fund conceded factual causation but contended that the suicide constituted a novus actus interveniens breaking legal causation.