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A violinist turned undercover investigator to get justice after being left disabled by a faulty Pilates machine.

Maya Meron, 45, played for top orchestras in venues across the world until a serious accident at a gym ended her career.

The mother-of-three was doing the downward-facing dog exercise on a Pilates machine when it gave way, plummeting her downwards and forwards with a huge force.

Ms Meron suffered a fractured left elbow and serious abdominal injuries and has been left with long-term nerve damage. She is unable to play the violin and often needs to use a wheelchair to get around.

But Jess Schuring, the owner of the Pilates studio, Heartcore, whose clients have included the Duchess of Sussex and Victoria Beckham, denied responsibility and disputed the claim that the machine was faulty.

So Ms Meron went undercover to visit Mrs Schuring’s chain of studios across London to collect evidence to support her case for compensation.

Now, after seven years, she has finally pinned her injuries to a faulty Pilates machine and, as a result, has been paid substantial damages in a confidential settlement.

Ms Meron’s ordeal began in March 2019 while visiting Heartcore’s studio in Hampstead, north London, near to where she lives.

After giving birth to twin boys, she signed up for Pilates classes on the ‘Coreformer’ machines which Mrs Schuring boasts of having ‘designed to a unique formula’.

During her 44th class, the support bar on the machine she was using suddenly gave way.

Ms Meron told the Daily Mail: ‘The machine was supposed to be locked in place and, when it gave way, I was catapulted forwards.

‘I felt like I’d been violently punched in the stomach and I heard my elbow break above the sound of the machine crashing. It is a sound I can never forget.’ 

Ms Meron said she then lost consciousness. She added: ‘I knew my career as a violinist was over. I was hurried to hospital before I could gather evidence and two days later Mrs Schuring, the owner and creator of the machine, basically told me [the incident] never happened.’

Mrs Schuring denied her machines were faulty and blamed Ms Meron’s ‘negligence’. So the musician adopted assumed names and posed as ‘an inept beginner’ to book classes at Heartcore’s studios across London. Her injuries are progressive and, at that time, she was not using a wheelchair.

She told staff that a finger injury was preventing her from doing exercise and she just wanted some instructions on how to use the Coreformer machines.

Sometimes, Ms Meron had to use her phone as a torch while carrying out her investigations in the dimly-lit studios.

Secretly recording her visits, she took pictures, saying they were selfies for social media, and found evidence of flaws in about 50 machines which could cause them to dangerously malfunction.

Mrs Schuring’s lawyers tried to claim that the covertly obtained evidence infringed her human rights by intruding on her ‘home’.

Ms Meron’s treatment has so far involved 400 medical appointments and she is now recovering from her latest operation. She has undergone elbow and reconstructive abdominal surgery.

She is unable to play violin as she suffers from long-term nerve damage to two nerves in her left arm and cannot separate two fingers on her left hand.

Ms Meron said: ‘Doctors then could not understand my injuries. A High Court judge – my neighbour – told me to give up.

‘But I chose to fight, operating as secret investigator and eventually I was successful.’ 

The musician had previously played the violin for orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia and at top venues across the world including the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

Ms Meron, whose marriage ended amid the stress of her ordeal, said: ‘I can never play again in an orchestra but I hope, some day, to play the violin with my children.’

She is now studying music and cognitive neuroscience in the US.

Jonathan Goldberg KC said: 'I am a longstanding family friend of this brilliant young musician and I was the first person to advise her after the tragic accident. Thereafter I stayed by her side for seven years without fee. The world of music has lost a violist of international standing, and she has lost the use of much of her body as well as her glittering career, but I believe her extraordinary courage and resilience will help her lead a good and useful life in future nonetheless.'

There is nothing wrong with Ms Meron's legs, but the nerve damage has affected her core strength and balance - which was not properly diagnosed for four years. She only resorted to a wheelchair relatively recently.

Mr Goldberg said: ’She had hundreds of doctors’ appointments in the first four years. After many, many scans and X-rays, and MRIs, the world’s top abdominal surgeon, Professor Chen in Los Angeles, opened her up and found that under the muscle of the abdomen - which couldn’t be seen by scans and MRIs and which nobody had diagnosed correctly - the nerves had sheered off in the twisting of the fall when the bar collapsed. So the nerves that support your core, and support your being able to walk or run, had sheered off. He repaired it as best he could, but she will never walk properly or run, and that’s the reason she needs to use the wheelchair most of the time.'

A legal spokesman for Mrs Schuring, whose eight studios still use the Coreformer machines, said: ‘The claim was resolved by Heartcore’s insurers on a commercial basis.

‘Heartcore remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of all its members and continues to review its equipment in accordance with industry standards.’