If another person’s negligence injured you in any kind of accident, it’s a difficult situation. If you suffered a catastrophic injury, it’s just that—catastrophic. Because every catastrophic injury is unique, a simple description can’t succinctly define them. Instead, they’re classified in an overarching category.
What Constitutes a Catastrophic Injury?
The law usually defines a catastrophic injury as any injury that precludes the victim of that injury from returning to work or from maintaining any form of gainful employment. In other words, if you are so injured that you can no longer work to support yourself and your family, you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury. Such an injury is obviously financially devastating, but a catastrophic injury is also physically debilitating and often has an overwhelmingly negative emotional component.
If you suffered a catastrophic injury in an accident that someone else’s negligence caused, you need an experienced Charleston personal injury attorney. At the Hughey Law Firm, we understand just how much devastation these claims cause, and our dedicated personal injury attorneys have the experience, drive, and compassion to aggressively fight for your just compensation.
When an Injury Is Catastrophic
Certain injuries are more often classified as catastrophic, and they’re usually associated with your body’s central nervous system, which plays the role of your body’s command center. Such injuries include spinal cord injuries (which, when serious, can cause paralysis) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Almost any kind of injury—if serious enough—can receive catastrophic classification. Several injuries in addition to spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries are most closely associated with the catastrophic classification:
- Serious burns
- Serious breaks or fractures
- Amputated limbs
- Exposure to highly toxic chemicals
- Organ damage
While almost any serious accident can lead to catastrophic injuries, they’re most often caused by traffic accidents—including car, truck, motorcycle, bike, and pedestrian accidents—and construction accidents.
Catastrophic Injuries: The Costs
Because of their extremely serious nature, catastrophic injuries incur massive medical costs:
- Emergency transportation from the accident scene
- Emergency treatments
- Surgeries and aftercare
- Appointments, treatments, and follow-up care from your doctors, specialists, surgeons, and therapists (including physical and occupational therapists)
- Prescription medications
- Ongoing medical care
- Adaptive physical devices
- Home adaptations
- Psychological care and treatments
Because of the unpredictable course of a catastrophic injury, the associated expenses are hard to calculate, too. The one given, however, is an astronomical price. As catastrophic injuries continue to progress with time, new symptoms often emerge and new costs accrue. The enormity of expense associated with catastrophic injuries can’t be overstated.
Your Damages
The damages associated with catastrophic injuries are also catastrophic. Catastrophic injuries typically leave you with permanent damages that can evolve and worsen with time. For most of us, our work defines us, and having to give it up is tantamount to giving up part of our sense of self. The psychological and emotional effects of these serious injuries can cause deeper trauma than the physical and financial damages. Ongoing psychological care and treatment is almost always a necessary element of such injuries.
If you suffer a catastrophic injury, your life will change in the blink of an eye, and it can leave you physically, emotionally, and financially scarred for the rest of your life. A catastrophic injury attacks your quality of life, so never minimize such an injury. While no amount of money can ever give you back what an accident took from you, you can hire a personal injury lawyer at the Hughey Law Firm to pursue compensation that helps you move forward on your newly altered path.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries are so closely associated with catastrophic injuries that it’s important to take a closer look at them. As their name implies, traumatic brain injuries are caused by trauma to the head—or by the violent shaking of the head—and they can lead to a range of symptoms that can range significantly in severity:
- Unconsciousness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Numbness and weakness throughout, or in localized areas of, the body
- The sudden onset of persistent headaches, sleep disturbances, and extreme fatigue
- The sudden onset of incoordination, speech disturbances, and confusion
- Changes in affect and personality, including the onset of mood swings
The overwhelming physical damages associated with TBIs are often more than matched by the traumatizing psychological components. Many sufferers describe the effect as a lost sense of self. Furthermore, because such injuries can lead to changes in personality, they are also associated with significant isolation. Such changes can even push away a sufferer’s loved ones—the very people who make up the support system. Nobody can overestimate the devastation of a serious TBI.
If Someone Else’s Negligence Left You With a Catastrophic Injury, Consult a Charleston Personal Injury Attorney Today
There’s no other word for it—a catastrophic injury is catastrophic. And if someone else’s negligence has left you with such an injury, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer. The overarching negative effects of a catastrophic injury are difficult to calculate, but they’re also difficult to underestimate. You need compensation that’s adequate to cover your damages and allow you to pursue a path forward.
At the Hughey Law Firm in Charleston, South Carolina, we recognize the traumatic nature of these injuries are, and we’re committed to helping you. Our dedicated personal injury lawyers have the experience, drive, and compassion to aggressively advocate for your claim’s most just compensation. Your claim matters too much not to fight for its best possible resolution, so please contact or call us at (843) 891-8644 today.
Client Testimonial
“Thank you Hughey Law Firm! It was a pleasure to work with you on my case! From the beginning, every contact I had with your firm was professional, kind, helpful, and painless! I always felt kept in the loop, and important to you as a client. If you are looking for a personal injury attorney with integrity, I would highly recommend Hughey Law Firm!”
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