While all car accidents can be traumatic experiences, some are worse than others.
Some car accidents are severe and result in catastrophic injuries.
Catastrophic injuries will have a tremendous impact on your overall quality of life.
They often lead to permanent disability, impairment, and a lifetime of pain, suffering, and medical costs.
A catastrophic injury can also prevent you from maintaining gainful employment and require years of rehabilitation, medical treatment, and surgical interventions.
Understanding what catastrophic injuries are is vital if you need to seek compensation for your injuries after a car accident.
In the article below, we will discuss catastrophic injuries after car accidents.
However, not every injury from a car accident is going to be catastrophic. Not every injury is going to be apparent from the start. Read more about it by reading our blog post: "Car Accident Injuries that have Delayed Symptoms."
Table Of Contents
- What Is Considered a Catastrophic Car Accident Injury?
- What Are The Types Of Catastrophic Injuries?
- What Compensation Can You Seek After a Catastrophic Car Accident Injury?
- Proving A Catastrophic Injury Claim
- Get the Highest Quality Local Injury Attorney For Your Catastrophic Injury Case
What Is Considered a Catastrophic Car Accident Injury?
Catastrophic injuries are determined by their level of severity and the chances that they lead to permanent damage.
If a car accident injury is very severe or causes permanent damage like paralysis, internal organ damage, or scarring, it is considered a catastrophic injury.
If you have a catastrophic injury, you will likely struggle with communicating, caring for yourself, or returning to work.
If you have been in a car accident and suffered a severe injury, you should speak with catastrophic injury lawyers as soon as possible.
What Are The Types Of Catastrophic Injuries?
Any injury can become a catastrophic injury if it is severe enough.
Even a minor injury that isn't treated right away can turn catastrophic.
Sometimes medical complications can cause normal injuries to lead to permanent impairment.
The worst kinds of catastrophic injuries include a loss of limb, loss of sight, paralysis, or another permanent disability.
Below are three types of catastrophic injuries that can affect car accident victims:
Severe Burns
Burns are extremely painful and can leave victims permanently disfigured.
Third and fourth-degree burns covering large portions of the body can even be life-threatening.
Severe burns require skin grafts, plastic surgery, and rehabilitation in order to make a complete recovery.
Even after completing treatments, accident victims may still suffer permanent nerve damage.
This can result in a loss of function or motion and a lifetime of chronic pain.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Severe spinal cord injuries often result in permanent and complete loss of movement and sensation throughout the body.
This means accident survivors may spend their life in a wheelchair or on a ventilator.
People with paraplegia may have some movement in their upper extremities, but people with quadriplegia have no movement or sensation in all of their limbs.
Spinal cord injury survivors need a lifetime of care.
A personal injury lawyer can help you receive compensation from the responsible party to help bring some normalcy back to your life.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
If your brain is damaged in an accident, it can swell or bleed.
This swelling or bleeding can cause significant damage to the brain tissue.
Victims of a traumatic brain injury will likely spend years in therapy and rehabilitation.
If you suffer a TBI, you might need to re-learn how to walk, talk, and care for yourself.
You might even suffer permanent damage that results in a lifetime of cognitive and physical impairment.
What Compensation Can You Seek After a Catastrophic Car Accident Injury?
If you've suffered a catastrophic injury in a car accident caused by another driver's negligence, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit to seek compensation.
Catastrophic injury cases are complex, and the damages you can receive depend on the circumstances of your accident and injury.
It can be difficult to know exactly how much compensation you may be entitled to, but your lawyer can help.
Your personal injury lawyer will assess your situation and help you understand the damages you can seek compensation for.
Examples of damages after a catastrophic car accident may include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
Proving A Catastrophic Injury Claim
Insurance companies hate paying for catastrophic injuries because these injuries tend to lead to a costly personal injury claims.
Your insurer will likely do all it can to deny your claim or shrink its value.
That's why it's important to work with an injury lawyer and build a strong case from the start.
When you work with catastrophic injury attorneys, you can rest a little easier knowing a professional team is on your side.
Injury lawyers focus on holding the liable party accountable so the injured party can focus on getting better.
Your lawyer will pressure the insurers to give you a fair settlement.
If it looks like the insurance company will give you a difficult time and try to deny your claim, you will need to gather strong, convincing evidence.
Evidence that can help your catastrophic injury case includes:
- Medical records
- Eyewitness testimonies
- Police reports
- Property or vehicle repair bills
- Dash or security cam footage
- Photographs
Get the Highest Quality Local Injury Attorney For Your Catastrophic Injury Case
If you suffer catastrophic injuries due to a car accident, you need an experienced law firm to protect your physical and financial recovery.
Our car accident doctors have built excellent relationships with your area's top personal injury lawyers.
These attorneys deal exclusively with motor vehicle accident injuries and will work closely with you throughout your case so you receive maximum compensation.
Our clients will have one-on-one attention from personal injury attorneys and have confidence knowing an entire legal team will back them.
This attention helps give our patients peace of mind knowing they are getting the medical care they need and ensuring that their injury claim will cover their medical bills and property damage.
Click the button below to schedule your Free Consultation with Car Wreck Doctor today.
References:
https://www.flahavanlaw.com/news/2021/november/5-types-of-catastrophic-injuries-after-a-car-acc/
https://www.bergerlawsc.com/library/catastrophic-injury-after-a-car-accident-in-columbia-sc.cfm
https://www.carolinalaw.com/charlotte-personal-injury-lawyer/catastrophic-injuries/
https://www.schollelaw.com/blog/catastrophic-car-accident-injuries