A medic whose life fell apart after she fainted in the stifling NHS laboratory where she worked has won a secret compensation payout in the courts.

Helen Stidwill, of Carshalton, is plagued by chronic pain due to the foot injury she suffered in the lab at King’s College Hospital in March 2009.

Despite “extensive treatment,” the 38-year-old mum-of-two now relies on crutches, Central London County Court heard.

She is afflicted by “ongoing pain, functional limitations and associated fatigue”, her lawyers said.

Mrs Stidwill sued the NHS for £1.1 million over the accident.

She came to grief when she “fainted and fell” due to excessive heat in the lab, the court was told.

NHS lawyers disputed the value of her claim, pointing out that she applied for a senior cardiologist’s post in 2015.

They said she could “walk significant distances on crutches” – pointing out she had even managed to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010.

Mrs Stidwill scaled the peak with her husband, Mark O’Leary, who wears a prosthetic limb after losing his leg in a motorbike accident as a teenager.

One pain specialist who examined Mrs Stidwill told the court he had been surprised by her ascent of one of Africa’s highest peaks.

He commented: “I’ve never seen a sufferer of complex regional pain syndrome manage the level of function required to climb a mountain”.

However, Mrs Stidwell’s barrister, Daniel Lawson, said the trip was a trek, not a climb, and accomplished “with the knowledge and support of her treating consultants”.

“It was a heavily supported trip arranged for disabled hikers”, he added.

Henry Charles, for Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said Mrs Stidwill’s faint at work had been caused by “excessively high temperatures”.

But the only “immediately identifiable injury” was a “stubbed toe”, claimed the barrister, who described it as a “trivial or innocuous contact injury”.

However, the court heard Mrs Stidwill’s injury has since blighted her life, making daily chores and child-raising extremely difficult.

On the second day of the trial of her claim, the trust agreed to pay her damages, although the amount of her payout was kept confidential.

Judge Mitchell wished Mrs Stidwill and her family well for the future, and commended her "resilience" in raising a young family.