A Warren County Circuit Court jury awarded more than $27 million in damages Friday night to a teenager injured in a 2000 car crash involving a Monarch Environmental garbage truck. The verdict came after more than three weeks of testimony in the case filed on behalf of Shannon Houchin, who was 17 in November 2000 when she driving to her home on Girkin Road, crested a hill and struck a garbage truck that was parked in the oncoming lane of traffic. Houchin was in a coma for 57 days after the crash and has suffered permanent brain damage as a result, said Tyler Thompson, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. The verdict awarded $9,211 for wages lost by Houchin to date from not being able to work at her job at a Bowling Green McDonalds, $11.1 million for pain, suffering and mental anguish, $1.3 million in future wages lost, $472,869 for existing medical bills, and $14.3 million for future medical expenses, bringing the total verdict to $27.1 million. Houchins mother, Lori Rone, said the family was relieved and pleased with the verdict. Our life had been on hold for a couple of years and now we can go on, Rone said. We know now that Shannon will have everything that she needs, and thats like a mountain gone off of us. Rone and her daughter are scheduled in January to go to Texas, where Houchin will attend a special rehabilitation school to help her gain some added independence, she said. That will probably take about a year and a half, Rone said. Were just very happy that shes going to be taken care of. Warren County juries have traditionally been reluctant to award large sums, but agreed to nearly all the plaintiffs requests in this case, said Zach Kafoglis, another member of Houchins legal team. I think this is probably one of the highest verdicts ever in this county, which is normally a very conservative one when it comes to these things, Kafoglis said. It was pleasantly surprising for the family, but they knew that Shannon deserved it after what shes been through. David Broderick, lead attorney for Republic Services of Louisville, Monarchs parent company, said the company plans to appeal the verdict, especially in light of the sum involved. Obviously, we are disappointed in the verdict, both as to issues of liability and damages, Broderick said. I have talked to various officials with Republic and we are intent on appealing the issue. The large amount of damages awarded in the case could be a problem for Warren County in the future, Broderick said. I just hope it doesnt send the wrong message about business opportunities in Warren County to companies that might consider locating here, he said. One of the key issues in the trial that may have led to the verdict was testimony that indicated Monarch had repeatedly been warned not to park its trucks on the wrong side of the road, especially on hilly roads like Girkin, but apparently paid the warnings no heed, Thompson said. Monarch had two years of warnings not to do this, he said. They had two years to prevent the accident, and Shannon had four seconds from the time she topped the hill and saw the truck to impact to prevent it. However, Broderick said during the trial and in an interview Saturday that parking on the opposite side of the road is a common practice for many service vehicles for various companies and that it did not justify the verdict in the case. We felt that there are serious issues of liability that lay with the driver of the car, and the jury chose to ignore those, he said. I felt like on the basis of the testimony at the trial that that should have been considered. The support of Shannons teachers, counselors, family members and employer was also important, Thompson said. They all came in and testified about what a great girl she was and how this is impacting her, and I think that had a big effect, he said. In addition to providing security for Houchin and her family in the future, the verdict may also serve to prevent similar accidents from happening, Thompson said. Monarchs own manuals and training tapes say dont park on the wrong side of the road, and neighbors asked them not to do it on numerous occasions, he said. Hopefully the verdict will help prevent it from happening again. The defendants plan to file some post-judgment motions with Warren Circuit Judge Thomas Lewis in the next few days, Broderick said. Once a written judgment in the case has been entered and those motions are dealt with, the defendants will have 30 days to appeal the verdict to the state Court of Appeals.