Globally, between 250,000 and 500,000 people each year suffer spinal cord injuries. These injuries can be catastrophic, resulting in mobility issues, pain, and the inability to continue working. All of these consequences cause financial strain, which can make the situation worse for you and your family.
If the injury was the result of someone else’s wrongful or negligent conduct, one option you have is to file a personal injury case to get compensation for your losses. Learn more about what spinal cord injuries are, how they occur, and how to file a claim for damages.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury refers to damage that occurs to the thick bundle of nerve fibers that make up your spinal cord and allow your brain to send messages to other nerves throughout your body.
Because your spinal cord is a main component of your central nervous system, any injury to that area can impact your entire body. For example, damage to the cord can result in changes in strength and feeling in the affected region.
These injuries are typically categorized by location and severity. Your spine is divided into the cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back to below your navel), lumbar (lower back), and sacral (buttocks) region, so the injury you suffer will be named after the area it affects.
Spinal cord injuries are also named by whether they are complete or incomplete. A complete spinal cord injury refers to an injury that results in losing all feeling and movement below the injury. If you have some feeling or movement control below the site, you have an incomplete spinal cord injury.
Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms
If you suffer a spinal cord injury, you can experience a variety of symptoms depending on what part of the spine is damaged. This type of injury can cause three main types of symptoms.
Sensory symptoms include:
- Pain
- Tingling
- Numbness
You can also experience motor symptoms, resulting in muscles that remain uncontrollably flexed, as well as muscle weakness and lack of muscle control.
Crucially, you can experience autonomic symptoms.
Autonomic signals result in processes that you don’t have to think about, so if an injury interrupts these signals, you can suffer disruptions to your:
- Heart rate
- Blood pressure
- Breathing
- Body temperature
Bowel control issues resulting in urinary and fecal incontinence, as well as sexual dysfunctions, are also possible.
What Are the Main Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries?
Spinal cord injuries can occur as a result of severe physical trauma. Let’s look at some of the most common causes of these life-altering injuries.
Vehicular Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents cause the majority of spinal cord injuries. A sudden blow can damage discs and ligaments and can even result in broken vertebrae.
It’s important to know that the impact of a car accident doesn’t have to be particularly severe to harm the spine. Factors like your head position or the angle of your seat at the moment of impact can all play a role.
Falls
Falls are also a significant cause of spinal cord injuries, and it is the most common reason older people suffer from these conditions. Although falls from great heights can more easily result in catastrophic injuries, even slip and fall accidents can lead to serious damage.
Workplace Accidents
People who work in the construction industry or in any field where there are lots of machines can also suffer spinal cord injuries. Being hit by a malfunctioning forklift or struck by a scaffold that collapsed can all lead to serious injuries.
What To Know About Filing a Spinal Cord Injury Claim After an Accident
If someone else’s conduct led to an accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury, you may have the right to pursue a personal injury claim. These claims typically depend on being able to prove negligence.
To establish negligence, you have to show that a duty of care existed and that the defendant breached it. You then have to demonstrate that the breach resulted in compensable losses.
An example of negligence would be if you went into a store and slipped on uneven stair steps, resulting in a spinal cord injury. The property owner owed you a duty of care as a customer, and they breached their responsibility by not alerting you of the defective step or doing anything to fix it. Since you suffered an injury that requires medical care, you can file a claim.
To have the best chance of getting fair compensation, you need to have experienced personal injury lawyers by your side. A lawyer will be able to gather the right evidence to show that you deserve compensation.
Negotiating with insurance companies is never simple, and it’s not something you want to do while dealing with serious injuries. A lawyer will fight for the damages that can help you after everything you’ve suffered.
It’s also important to remember that there are time limits you need to respect when filing a personal injury claim. West Virginia allows you two years from the moment the accident occurred to file a claim, though there can be exceptions.
If you miss the applicable deadline, you won’t be able to recover compensation. With an attorney, you don’t have to worry about this because they’ll take care of the legalities.
What Types of Damages Can You Receive in a Spinal Cord Injury Claim?
When you file a personal injury claim after suffering a spinal cord injury, you can receive economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate you for quantifiable losses you’ve suffered, including medical expenses. If you need to make changes to your home or car because of a disability that the injury caused, economic damages can cover that, as well.
In many instances, a spinal cord injury is severe enough to require ongoing medical care. By including these losses in your claim, you can continue receiving the rehabilitative assistance you need.
You will likely not be able to go to work for weeks or months after a spinal cord injury. That means losing the income you would otherwise have made. By claiming lost wages, you’re able to recover these losses. In instances when it’s impossible to return to work, you can also receive loss of earning potential damages.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, compensate you for non-financial losses. These include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of companionship.
Contact Our Charleston Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers For Legal Help
After suffering a spinal cord injury, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to help you file a claim. At Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers, our team in Charleston, WV, can help you understand your rights and what you can expect from the process. Contact us or call at (614) 587 8423 to schedule a free consultation.
