Catastrophic injuries usually include brain and head injuries, amputations, organ damage, loss of eyesight, and neck and spinal cord injuries. These types of injuries change a person’s life forever.
Often, they no longer can work to support themselves or their families. There are also a massive amount of medical expenses to be paid. Sometimes future surgeries must be performed, for example, in the case of severe burns. Often, extensive rehabilitative therapy is needed for months, years, or even an entire lifetime.
As is the case with brain injuries, the victim may not even regain the full mental ability. Sometimes accidents result in changes in personality, emotional problems, memory issues, and learning problems. Victims who suffer a catastrophic injury are often lost as to what to do next. Read on to find out.
Seek Medical Attention Immediately
When someone has suffered a catastrophic injury, it is extremely important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Expert medical doctors can diagnose and document injuries. Unfortunately, there will often be injuries that do not show symptoms for weeks, months or even years after the accident.
It is helpful to know in advance what signs to recognize and what can be expected in the future. Proper treatment will help minimize damage caused by the injury, and the patient can begin healing.
Neck And Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are common catastrophic injuries. These can occur by being in a car accident, falling from a tall height, or having a trampoline accident. Neck and spinal cord injuries are often very severe, leaving victims with part or complete loss of their limbs and torso.
Lifelong care is often needed for both the mental and physical anguish that comes from a life of long-term medical care.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
A variety of situations can cause traumatic brain injuries. For example, bicyclists and pedestrians involved in car collisions will sometimes suffer a traumatic brain injury. These can cause cognitive, learning, and emotional problems that can last their lifetime.
Sometimes, in very severe cases, victims cannot even recognize family and friends afterward. They must be re-taught how to do ordinary tasks such as brushing their teeth and feeding themselves. Memory loss can be very difficult to cope with.
Seek Legal Help
Catastrophic injuries aren’t easy to get over, and victims are usually disabled for life. When someone else is responsible for being negligent, careless, or especially if it is intentional, it’s time to get an attorney. It is important to find an attorney with experience with catastrophic injury claims.
Experienced attorneys will be able to determine how much compensation will be needed to cover expenses for a lifetime. It is also possible to recover damages for pain, suffering, and emotional pain.
Before hiring an attorney, ask them how much experience they have had with catastrophic injury cases. Ask how many have gone to trial and what the outcome was. Sometimes there are easier ways to settle a case than taking it to trial. Arbitration and settlement are always options.
Be sure to find out how an attorney feels about these options before hiring them. Arbitration and settlement can make a victim’s life easier than having to endure a long, potentially draining trial.
When someone suffers a catastrophic injury, it’s often hard to think about what to do first. These steps can help get you or a loved one back on the road to financial and emotional stability.
