Of all the injuries someone could suffer in a traumatic accident, spinal cord damage most dramatically changes the life of anyone who experiences it. Even relatively minor spinal cord injuries can require months of intensive medical treatment and therapy to recover from. Even with all the benefits of modern medical science, severe spinal cord damage usually results in a lifelong loss of sensation and motor function.
Even if the physical effects of your injury are irreversible, the financial effects may not be. Demanding fair financial recovery with a catastrophic injury attorney’s help can alleviate other negative effects of spinal cord damage. If you’re dealing with an injury caused by someone else’s negligence, you should make speaking with a Pennsauken spinal cord injury lawyer about your legal options one of your top priorities.
Understanding Different Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
The severity of a spinal cord injury and how much money you may need to demand through a spinal cord injury lawsuit or settlement proposal depends on two things: where the injury happens and how complete the damage is. Injuries to the lower part of the spinal cord are more likely to cause paraplegia or loss of movement and sensation below the waist, while injuries higher up the spine may result in quadriplegia of the entire body below the neck.
A complete spinal cord injury involves the spinal cord being completely severed at the injury site to a degree that can’t be fixed by doctors or naturally healed. An incomplete spinal cord injury, which involves bruising, twisting, or slight tearing of the spinal cord, may give you some prospects of long-term recovery. An experienced Pennsauken spinal cord trauma attorney understands these qualifications and how to account for them in a claim for compensation.
Recovering for Long-Term Effects of a Permanent Disability
No matter what specific type of spinal cord injury you’ve sustained, you’ll experience several physical, financial, and personal losses that fundamentally change how you interact with the world. Comprehensive civil claims built around this kind of injury need to account for past and future losses that the injury will cause, which can specifically include:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish and trauma
- Loss of life’s pleasures
- Costs of emergency medical care and expected long-term care, including physical therapy and assistive equipment like wheelchairs
- Lost working and earning capacity
- Disability-related costs for home or vehicle modifications and in-home assistance
Even if you’ll be dealing with the effects of your injury for the rest of your life, you still need to start any lawsuit within two years of initially getting hurt, with few exceptions. This is a big reason why contacting a lawyer quickly after suffering a spinal cord injury in Pennsauken can be so important to case success.
A Pennsauken Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Can Help
No one deserves to suffer a permanent injury because of someone else’s reckless or careless misconduct. Unfortunately, that exact scenario plays out almost every day. If you’ve been injured, you know how devastating and unfair the situation can feel.
It’s important to remember that you have legal options that may be vital to maximizing your quality of life despite the harm you’ve unjustly sustained. Call a Pennsauken spinal cord injury lawyer today to learn more.
