All About Spinal Cord Personal Injury in South Carolina
Spinal cord injuries are among the most devastating injuries a person can suffer, second only to brain injuries. The spinal cord is a key component of bodily movement and sensation. When the cord is injured, a victim might end up paralyzed below the point of impact. Even if they retain some movement, they often struggle to get back to normal.
Call Surasky Law Firm today to discuss your accident and prognosis with a personal injury lawyer. Spinal cord injuries are difficult to rehab. We can discuss your legal options for seeking compensation in a lawsuit or settlement. During this difficult time, don’t try to negotiate your own settlement.
A Close Look at the Spinal Cord
The spinal cord is a long tube made up of nervous tissue. It starts near the base of the brain and runs down to your tailbone. Nerve roots shoot off the spinal cord and pass through gaps in the vertebrae. Injury to the vertebrae can result in pinched nerve roots, which cause intense pain and numbness. However, in this article, we focus mostly on injuries to the spinal cord itself.
Types of Spinal Cord Injury
The spinal cord can end up bruised, nicked, pierced, torn, shredded, or even cut in two. The damage to the cord will impact the severity of your injury.
Complete injury. The cord is cut into two pieces. In this type of injury, neurological signals cannot traverse the gap, so the victim suffers full paralysis and loss of sensation below the site of injury. Medical treatment will focus on stabilizing the spine and helping a person maintain as much independence as possible. Those with complete injuries are often confined to a wheelchair and probably need at-home help.
Paraplegic. A person is paralyzed in the legs, but they can still use their arms.
Quadriplegic. The victim cannot use their arms or legs. Damage to the cord in the neck could result in this injury.
Incomplete injury. The cord is damaged but remains in one piece. The severity of damage matters considerably. If the cord is merely bruised, you might suffer impaired movement and sensation for months before healing. More serious damage to the cord will lead to greater impairment. A spinal cord injury victim can aggressively rehab an incomplete injury and possibly relearn how to walk.
Can You Recover?
This is an important question. If some spinal cord remains in one piece, then you might relearn how to do certain tasks, such as walking or gripping objects. Getting back to normal is very hard, however.
You should work closely with your medical team. They can offer a fair prognosis about your possible recovery. They also have resources for you and your family. A spinal cord injury impacts everyone in the family.
What Causes Most Spinal Cord Injuries?
The vertebrae surrounding the cord do a good job protecting it from everyday bumps and knocks. Still, traumatic accidents can shatter or displace vertebrae, causing bone fragments to cut into the cord.
According to the United Spinal Association, most spinal injuries are caused by:
Motor vehicle crashes 39.3%
Falls 31.8%
Violent attacks 13.2%
Sporting injuries 8%
Medical errors 4.3%
These Are Expensive Injuries
There are many costs associated with a spinal cord injury. It isn’t unusual for someone to lose more than $1 million for a very serious spinal cord injury. Let’s look at some of the costs.
Medical Care
Someone with a spinal cord injury will need the entire spinal column immediately stabilized. Often, this requires surgery, extended stays in the hospital, and even time in the Intensive Care Unit.
Once stabilized, patients often go straight into rehabilitation. They might stay in a rehabilitation center for a month or more. Even those who can go home often need extensive rehabilitation. Furthermore, spinal cord injuries can require ongoing medical treatment, like future surgeries.
We also need to mention the complications which arise from spinal cord injuries. You might suffer breathing or circulation problems, which also require additional medical treatment.
At-Home Modifications
Spinal cord injuries might require a person to redo their home. At a minimum, someone in a wheelchair might need a ramp installed so they can go inside and out. They might also need to redo some rooms, such as widening areas in the kitchen so they can wheel themselves around.
Lost Income
Anyone with a serious injury will also need to miss work as they rehab. A tragic injury could render someone unemployed for years—or possibly forever. This lost income could represent a considerable sum of money.
How We Fight for Meaningful Compensation
Someone with a spinal cord injury should seek our legal help. At Surasky Law, our Aiken, SC, personal injury lawyer can analyze whether you have a legal right to seek a settlement. Many of our clients sue a negligent driver or a property owner who failed to protect them. This person is at fault for the accident.
A settlement should compensate for financial losses like those mentioned above. You should also request money for pain, suffering, and emotional distress. Serious spinal cord injuries dramatically alter a person’s life trajectory. You could become severely depressed after becoming paralyzed. A settlement should contain some money for your suffering.
We win these cases by finding evidence to use to show how the accident unfolded. Imagine that a truck crashed into your car, rendering you a paraplegic. We need proof the trucker is to blame or at least shares most of the blame. In South Carolina, you can receive compensation so long as you are not more at fault than the defendant.
Contact an attorney quickly. We’ll need to find and preserve useful evidence, such as surveillance video that captured your accident and witness statements.
Your Local Personal Injury Law Firm
After an accident, victims and their families are focused on recovery. That’s good. You have a long road ahead, and you need to rest up and preserve your energy. That’s one reason you should call our law firm. A personal injury attorney can begin the task of compiling evidence for a claim and negotiating for a settlement. Contact Surasky Law Firm to schedule a free consultation.
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