Suppose you’re driving to work or to the grocery store one day, a drive you’ve made hundreds of times without incident. But this day, as you are crossing an intersection on a green light, a car coming from the side doesn’t see the red light and broadsides you at a high-rate of speed. As a result of the accident, you suffer a fracture in your neck, paralyzing you from the neck down. In seconds, you go from being an active, healthy, happy independent person to an immobile person who is incapable of caring for even your most basic needs and are dependent on others for all of your needs. Catastrophic injuries such as quadriplegia are sudden and unexpected life changing for the victim and the victim’s family. A healthy person may suddenly become a quadriplegic or paraplegic from a spine injury in an automobile accident caused by the carelessness or inattentiveness of another driver.
Depending on the type and nature of the injury, in some cases prompt medical treatment can result in significant recovery. Most catastrophic injuries, however, tend to be devastating and permanent in nature. “Catastrophic” generally refers to injuries that require significant medical treatment and have long-term and permanent effects on an injured victim’s life. These injuries usually happen suddenly and without warning. Catastrophic injuries generally require intensive and long-term medical care and usually result in permanent changes to the victim’s life. The victim may be disabled and unable to go back to work and will have to be retrained for a new job or profession, if he or she is able to return to work at all. The victim may suffer severe physical, emotional, and mental pain and suffering, be more susceptible to bacterial and viral diseases due to a weakened immune system, and may have a significantly shortened life span.
Catastrophic injuries include:
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
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Quadriplegia (also known as tetraplegia)
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Severe scarring and disfigurement
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Loss of vision in one or both eyes
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Multiple fractures
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Injuries to the nerves in the torso, arms, and shoulders (brachial plexus)
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Neurological disorders
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Reflex sympathetic dystrophy, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a syndrome that causes chronic pain, usually involving one or more of the victim’s limbs
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Serious emotional and psychological injuries
A catastrophic injury frequently causes disruption to the Central Nervous System (CNS), which in turn affects many of the systems of the body. The catastrophic injury may result in loss of movement, sensation, and communicative and cognitive abilities. It may also impact respiration, circulation, the skin, the urinary system, the gastrointestinal system, and other body systems. Management of a catastrophic injury is complex and requires the expertise of a team of health care providers, including physicians, specialists, consultants, nurses, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and social workers.
In some catastrophic injuries, the victim will need to have surgeries in the future. The clearest example of this is the victim who has been severely burned over a large part of his or her body. Such a victim will have to go through a series of surgeries over the years. An attorney experienced in catastrophic injuries will recognize the need for medical care in the future and will be able to recover monetary damages for the future surgeries and pain and suffering associated with them.
The attorney will also be able to recover all other damages to which the victim is entitled, including past, present, and future medical expenses, lost past, present, and future wages, loss of earning power, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, psychological injuries, and any and all other damages the victim is legally entitled to receive. A catastrophic injury often requires major and expensive lifetime care and an experienced attorney will work on your behalf to get you maximum recovery.
Victims with catastrophic injuries often suffer long-term or permanent disabilities. They may have to deal with incontinence, loss of feelings in their limbs, loss of bladder control, inability to breathe independently (requiring an artificial respirator at all times), loss of memory, inability to speak, blindness paralysis, and loss of communicative and cognitive abilities. These disabilities may shorten the victim’s life, as well as present him or her with ongoing medical problems, physical pain, and mental suffering.
Catastrophic injuries are also life altering for the victim’s family members, who may have to adjust their priorities and work to care for their loved one. The spouse of a traumatic injury victim may be able to bring his or her own lawsuit to recover damages for loss of consortium (loss or impairment of sexual relations), care, and comfort due to his or her spouse’s injuries.
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