The Legal Response to Damaging Your Spine in an Incident

Dealing with injuries after an accident is physically and emotionally demanding. Spine injuries are especially debilitating, and even minor damage can cause you serious pain and limit your mobility. In many cases, your life can be permanently changed as you must navigate a new world where your body limits your daily activities. Knowing how to launch a legal response to an accident that injures your spine helps you gather the resources you need for your recovery.

 

Understand the Impact of Spinal Injuries

Your spinal cord contains nerves that connect your brain to the rest of your body. On top of supporting your body, the spine helps to control your movements. When any part of your spine receives an injury, you can experience nerve and muscle pain along with symptoms that impair your ability to move freely. There are three specific parts of your spine that include the cervical, thoracic and lumbar areas. Typically, an injury to the spine impacts all of the parts that lie below it. For this reason, cervical spinal injuries tend to be the most devastating. Injuries to the neck are often associated with paralysis from this area down through the arms and legs.

 

Take Immediate Action Following An Accident

The immediate hours after an accident are often a blur of activity. While you need to seek immediate medical attention for spinal injuries, it is also important to begin documenting the incident to the fullest extent possible. If someone is left at the scene, then they can take pictures of the incident to demonstrate the potential fault of the other party. If you are unable to stay at the scene, then you can use police reports, witness statements and medical information to help bolster your claim.

 

Seek Legal Assistance Right Away

Once you address your immediate medical needs, your next step is to begin building a legal response that supports each step of the process of seeking compensation for your injuries. Personal injury attorneys focus on helping people who experience catastrophic injuries receive the help they need to move forward with their lives. Since a spinal injury can impact your ability to earn an income, it is essential to ensure that you have everything you need in place to continue recovering for years into the future.

 

Continue to Document Your Recovery Journey

Whether you were in a pedestrian and vehicle accident or experienced damage to your spine in another catastrophic incident, you’ll likely face the need for ongoing medical care. Diagnostic imaging, pain medication and physical therapy are all potential costs that you could face in the future. It is also possible that your diagnosis could change over time if new injuries appear. Make sure to continue documenting your recovery by submitting any new information to your lawyer so that they can work with the latest details that impact your health and financial security.

 

Trying to navigate legal cases when you are in pain and emotionally stressed is challenging. Making sure that you have a strong, competent attorney by your side allows you to benefit from their expertise. From helping to recover the immediate costs of the incident to planning for financial compensation to cover long-term expenses, it helps to know a professional is available to work on your behalf.