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Greensboro Spinal Cord Injuries
About 11,000 Americans per year sustain a spinal cord injury, and almost 200,000 people in the U.S. live with a disability resulting from a spinal cord injury. Motor vehicle collisions account for the greatest number of spinal cord injuries in person under 65. Falls account for the greatest amount of these injuries in persons 65 and older. Sports and other recreational activities cause 18% of spinal cord injuries, mostly to people 15 to 29 years old.
A spinal cord injury can be devastating. Like other personal injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, a spinal cord injury can result in economic (loss of wages) and non-economic (pain and suffering) losses. If you or someone you know has sustained a SCI due to the negligence of another individual or entity, contact an experienced Greensboro spinal cord injury lawyer from Schlosser & Pritchett.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
Any serious or high impact injury accident can result in a neck or back injury causing damage to your spinal cord. The following list is some of the more common accidents which result in paralysis or spinal cord injury:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Bicycle accidents or pedestrian accidents
- Construction accidents
- Violent crimes – muggings, robbery
- Diving into shallow water head first
- Animal attacks
- Defective products
- Falls
- Collapsing walls
- Scaffolding accidents and ladder falls
Consequences of Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury can be either complete or incomplete. With complete spinal cord injuries, you will lose the ability to feel sensations and move voluntarily below the area where the injury occurred.
With an incomplete injury, you will have some functioning below the area of injury. For example, you might be able to move one leg more than the other or feel parts of your body that you are not able to move.
Both complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries could result in one or more of the following symptoms:
- loss of mobility;
- loss of the ability to feel;
- loss of bladder and bowel control;
- exaggerated reflexes or spasms;
- changes in sexual sensitivity or function;
- pain from damaged nerve fibers; and
- difficulty breathing.
The body parts affected by the spinal cord injury will depend on where it has occurred. Injuries that occur higher along the spinal cord could result in quadriplegia. With quadriplegia, your arms, chest, pelvic organs and legs will be affected. If the injury has occurred in the upper part of your neck, you will likely need the assistance of a ventilator for breathing. Injuries that occur lower along the spinal cord could result in paraplegia, which affects your legs, pelvic organs and chest.
Compensation Available to Victims of Spinal Cord Injuries
Should a victim be able to prove negligence as the proximate cause of their injuries, the victim is afforded legal rights to collect compensation for their injuries and other damages. Nevertheless, what constitutes damages, and more importantly, what are damages specific to spinal cord injuries? The following lists some of most notable economic (special) damages commonly seen in spinal cord injuries:
- Medical costs, including emergency medical treatment, post-acute care, costs of hospitalizations, surgeries, and post-operative care, which depending on the individual case, may include the need for medical surgeries and procedures well into the future
- Future and current rehabilitative care and therapy
- Cost of making arrangements for seeking medical treatment or rehabilitative therapy, such as transportation costs and childcare expenses
- Lost income as the result of a spinal cord injury, including considerations for future lost income should a spinal cord injury present long-term complications to a victim’s ability to earn a living, which is often the case
- Costs of renovating a household or one’s lifestyle to meet their current disability needs, which may include considerations for long-term disability needs of a victim in certain cases of spinal cord injuries
Furthermore, victims are afforded the legal right to make compensation claims for non-economic (general) damages, which may include:
- Physical pain and suffering from injuries
- Mental anguish, emotional distress, and other psychological considerations
- Disability, loss of mobility, or disfigurement in a victim, with considerations for the expected length and extent of each
- Lowered quality of life
Schlosser & Pritchett – Expert Greensboro Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
Perhaps the worst physical injury one can suffer is damage to the spinal cord. The most prominent example is Christopher Reeve, who one day was "Superman" and the next was a quadriplegic. We see some of our Greensboro clients who have spinal cord injuries as super men and women too.
Spinal cord injuries can happen in a second, but the effects last a lifetime.
If you have suffered a brain injury or virtually any personal injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, please contact the Greensboro spinal cord injury lawyer at Schlosser & Pritchett. We have the experience and resources victims may need to pursue compensation for their losses.
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Schlosser & Pritchett
5709 West Friendly Avenue
Greensboro, NC 27410
Phone: 336-292-4076
Fax: 336-292-8003
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