For more than 40 years, Beatrice Turner has devoted herself to round-the-clock care of her severely disabled son in their tiny council house. Roy Turner suffered a brain injury caused by asphyxia during his birth, resulting in spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. He cannot speak, is confined to a wheelchair and is totally dependent.

Beatrice, 75, who suffers from arthritis, feared what would happen to her son when she could no longer look after him. She remained convinced that his condition was the result of hospital negligence, but felt powerless to seek justice. Eventually another of her sons, Robert, took up the case with a solicitor and pursued the local health authority for compensation. Last week, after years of legal wrangling, Roy was awarded £1.585 million.

'I felt very happy for Roy because, if anything happens to me tomorrow, I know he is being looked after,' said Italian-born Beatrice, who lives with Roy in Sheffield. 'He's only 41 and I'm 75 and I've not been very well.'

Beatrice had previously given birth to three sons and four daughters, all in perfect health, when Roy, her youngest, was born at the Jessops Hospital in Sheffield on 20 June 1964. She said she was 'pushing like mad' at 12.15am but was told to stop and was given a drug, pethilorfan, that reduced the urge to push. Roy's heart rate fell to 80 beats per minute.

No vaginal examination was performed. The family's case, prepared for the High Court in London, was that a vaginal examination would have revealed that Beatrice was ready to deliver. Instead, the examination was performed later at 1am and delivery took place by 1.15am. It was argued that earlier delivery would have saved Roy from disability.

Beatrice recalled: 'I knew they were doing it wrong straight away but they didn't listen. They said, "What do you know?" I said, "After having seven children, I do know and you are wrong, you are giving me an injection to stop me having my baby." When you've had other children, you know the natural thing.

'He was short of oxygen so he was born disabled. I knew there was something wrong when I saw him with other children. 'Bringing him up has been hard work but I managed it with my family. You do everything for your children in any way you can.'

Beatrice - who separated from her husband when Roy was two and raised her eight children alone while holding down three jobs - said she still felt angry about the alleged blunder. 'That hospital has caused me misery for 41 years. For a mother it hurts when there is good health in seven children and then you get the last one like that.'

Beatrice did not realise she had a case for compensation until persuaded by her son Robert, and in 2000 the family recruited Caroline Moore of Taylor & Emmet Solicitors, arguing that the hospital failed to adequately monitor the progress of her labour. Before the case was due to be heard in the High Court, the South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority agreed to a settlement without admission of liability of £1,585,000.

Benjamin Browne, representing the authority, said no one could read the papers in the case without being moved. 'Mrs Turner has devoted wonderful care to her son over the years with the aid of her family and we wish to pay tribute to her for what she's done,' he said.

The compensation - £100,000 of which goes to Beatrice - comes at a vital time, with her health failing as a result of complications after a hip replacement. She said: 'We'll get a bigger bungalow for Roy which is adapted for him, and a minibus with lift. He's not mentally disabled and he knows what's happened with this case.'