A Spinal cord injury is such a serious injury that can stay for a lifetime affecting your daily routine and other activities.
That’s why the best is to consult with a spinal cord injury lawyer right away after discovering that you or any other family member is suffering from it.
Because these are serious issues that need rapid action, and the more you delay, the more it will get complicated. And the sufferer of these pain and miseries will solely be you and your family member.
The spinal cord injury can be so severe that it can make a person completely paralyzed from being totally normal, either temporarily or permanently.
In fact, out of all the injuries, the spinal cord is the most common cause of paralysis.
Why Should You Hire a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer?
When a spinal cord injury takes place, starting from that moment, you are eligible to get compensation from the person because of whom it happened.
Certainly, after the injury, the defaulter person, companies, or insurance companies will come to you for lessening the compensation rate.
Life is unpredictable, and anything can happen to anyone at any time.
And as a human being, after facing such a devastating situation where our entire life is at risk of being changed forever is something whose slight thought is enough to make us scared.
At that time, it is natural that our minds will not act accordingly, and if the injury isn’t enough, you will find yourself indulged in drowning in the costs.
To add more, insurance companies or the defaulter side will try to pay you less than you desired.
That’s why the wise decision is to hire an experienced lawyer before talking or meeting with these people.
As their main goal will be to pay you no or less money, a lawyer at that time can play a crucial role by giving them a tough and equal fight with them.
They will estimate the precise compensation and fight until the end, so you get your rightful amount.
What is a Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury means having a wound or damage to any area or nerves of the spinal cord. The spinal cord is such a crucial part of our body that it almost connects all body parts to the brain.
And having an injury at such a part of the body, one can only guess about the severity. In fact, these injuries to the spinal cord are one of the most severe, long-term, and devastating personal injuries one can have.
It is so bad that it has the total power to change one’s life drastically within some minutes. Let me give a recent statistics of these injuries rate that will for sure amaze you:
Every 7 out of the 10 cases from spinal cord injury shows permanent changes in the total strength, sensation, and other body functionalities.
These spinal traumas can be so fatal in several cases that the doctor may find it tough to understand and say anything about the outcome.
Such as for how long this injury will stay or how much it will affect the body. The most severe result is from those injuries that occur close to the skull area.
Read Also: Types of Personal Injury Compensation Claim
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
After much debate, the doctors have arrived at a final decision and thus concluded that spinal cord injuries are of 2 types only, namely complete or incomplete injury.
Complete Injury
By complete injury, it is meant that the entire spinal cord is severely harmed and affected. Simply put, the person who got a complete injury will lose all his sensory and motor function below the injury level.
Incomplete Injury
Here, an incomplete one means that the injury affected some parts of the spinal cord while others are in a good state. Therefore, the effect of this injury is not as bad as the complete injury.
Meaning the people with such injuries will not lose their sensation and movement control entirely like the complete injury causes.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injury
Several causes may result in a spinal cord injury. However, the number 1 leading reasons behind severe spinal cord injuries are sudden and brutal falls, road accidents, or any sports injuries.
Below is a list of the latest statistics which shows the most common causes of spinal cord injury Canada that will give you a more clear concept:
| Reasons | Percentage Rate (%) |
| Fall | 41.7% |
| Road Traffic Accident | 36.8% |
| Sport | 11.6% |
| Knocked Over/Collision/Lifting | 4.2% |
| Trauma | 3.3% |
| Sharp Trauma/ Assault | 2.7% |
Besides the above-stated major causes, some other causes that may also result in spinal cord injury are:
- Degenerative joint diseases or osteoarthritis
- Tumours
- Spinal cord haemorrhage: vascular malformations, bleeding diatheses, etc
- Spinal cord infarction (Stroke)
- Traverse myelitis (Infections)
- Central Core Syndorme (Upper Motor neuron)
- Brown-Sequard Syndrome (Hemisection)
- Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm (TAAA)
Read Also: How to Negotiate Pain and Suffering Compensation With Insurance
When Do I Need a Lawyer after a Spinal Cord Injury?
Generally, after being diagnosed with any personal injuries in Canada, a person’s initial medical expenses are carried out by the insurance companies.
Such as surgical procedures, hospital room rental fees, etc.
However, some deadly and severe diseases like spinal cord injuries require much long-term treatment and expenditures.
To simply state, it is tough for any insurance companies to bear the total cost starting from the medicines fees to the income loss.
Moreover, the help or compensation that you and your family members will get directly depends on the reason behind having these spinal injuries and the insurance companies policies.
For instance, do you have any insurance company that will back up your injury expenses?
If yes, then how much is the percentage? Did the wound take place at a public or private property?
Where did it take place at the workstation, or was it a car accident? Was the injury due to any carelessness or dangerous environment?
The injury cost is often much higher, and the help that usually comes from various sources is negligible compared to the entire cost.
Or the compensation claim can also get rejected for any reason. So what to in such a dreadful situation?
Well, the best answer is none other than talking to an experienced spinal cord injury lawyer. In fact, in a time like this, a lawyer can act as a saviour by dealing with the situation.
S/he will make sure that all the necessary documents are gathered and filled in accordingly within the time.
If needed, the lawyer will also be there to fight the case and will try his or her best level, so you and your family get your rightful compensation.
Hence, it is the right time when you need a lawyer after facing a spinal code injury.
What Should I Do After a Spinal Cord Injury?
After suffering from a spinal cord injury, there are some necessary steps that you should take as quickly as possible.
Now the question may arise why I should take such steps and how I will be benefitted if I do all the things?
It is solely for the betterment of you and your family as if you can follow all the below-listed steps, then undoubtedly the chances of getting the rightful compensation will become much higher.
So let’s go through the steps so you can exactly know what you need to do after being diagnosed with spinal cord injury:
- Collect all the essential information and data for making the documentation of the entire accident, such as taking photographs of the scene, contacting and taking information of any eye-witnesses, and finally drafting the reason behind the incident.
- If the reason behind the injury is due to a car accident, you must also collect the driver’s information whose reckless driving caused such a mishap.
- If you are injured at your workstation, the 1st thing you should do is report the injury directly to your supervisor without any delay. And then file for a claim with the Workplace Safety And Insurance Board (WSIB) as soon as possible.
- Look for immediate medical help, and make sure that the hospital authorities draft and provide authentic documents of your injury and treatment. Another important thing that you can follow is asking the doctor or a specialist to examine a full checkup or test on your entire body (if not done before).
- As a result, they will find and note down the extra damages or any evolving symptoms. This part is extremely crucial as spinal cord injuries can take a bad turn with time.
- Lastly, make a draft of how the injury has affected the precious lives of you and your family members. Such as the medical and caregiving costs, pain, loss of income, and sufferings you face in your daily life. No matter how tiny these things are, it is better to note them down and be prepared to say these things when needed.
To Conclude
Spinal injuries can be life-threatening for you and your family members, as these injuries are one of the most common and dangerous ones.
It often requires long-term treatment and drastically affects the whole life.
As a result, it becomes tough for the victim to bear the entire expenditures, especially when the defaulter and the insurance companies don’t want to pay full compensation.
Therefore, the smart decision is to hire a qualified spinal cord injury lawyer who can help you get your rightful compensation.
So you can show a sign of relief and thus have nothing to worry about.
