Spinal Cord Injury - What It Is, How It Happens, And How To Protect Your Rights
When actor Christopher Reeve became paralyzed after a 1995 horse-riding accident, he became the most well-known representative of spinal cord injury.
But there are hundreds of thousands of people nation- and world-wide who struggle to deal with the dramatic impact this has on daily life.
The following is a succinct outline of what the affliction is, how it happens, and how to protect your rights, particularly if your damage was caused by another person.
Spinal cord injury is damage to the nerve fibers along your spinal cord, which relays messages between your brain and the nerves in the rest of your body.
This type of trauma with an incomplete classification preserves partial sensation or motor function below the spot where the damage occurred.
A complete one does not; all communication with the brain is blocked below that point.
The higher the trauma site, the more of the body is at risk.
Very high ones can result in quadriplegia, and the person may even require a ventilator to breathe.
Lower injuries may leave arm and hand function intact but still affect the bladder and legs.
Most spinal cord injuries are caused by trauma, but some are the result of diseases such as polio, cancer, and spina bifida.
Vehicular accidents are the leading cause, accounting for almost half of the new cases recorded each year.
These are followed by falls, which particularly afflict those over the age of 65.
Other causes include sports injuries and violent assaults that lead to knife and gunshot wounds.
How do I protect the rights of myself or a loved one? If your spinal cord injury is the result of someone else's actions, and if this can be proven legally, that person may be held responsible for the consequences of their behavior.
Since car accidents cause the greatest number of them, it is not uncommon for the affected person to be the driver who was not responsible for the accident itself.
If this is true, the liable driver and their insurance company have a legal duty to cover the victim's expenses.
The aforementioned situation can get complicated, and it would be best to reach out for help.
If you find yourself in such a situation, it may be a good idea to contact an Chicago Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer to help you learn your rights and assess your options.
Your expenses can run far beyond the immediate medical bills, and insurance companies will likely be hesitant to help you with these expenses if they can at all avoid it.
With an incomplete injury, you may have lengthy and costly physical therapy sessions; with a complete one, you may have to equip your whole home or body with specialized products to help you perform whatever daily functions you can.
These expenses add up quickly, which is what makes proper legal representation essential if you are concerned with having the most enabling environment available as you try to adjust to your spinal cord injury.
And keep in mind that no matter how the impairment changes your life, you are not alone.
There are several national and international organizations dedicated to bringing together and assisting all people dealing with this affliction, and some of the leading medical institutions are hard at work developing new techniques to lessen the impact it will have on your daily activities.
But there are hundreds of thousands of people nation- and world-wide who struggle to deal with the dramatic impact this has on daily life.
The following is a succinct outline of what the affliction is, how it happens, and how to protect your rights, particularly if your damage was caused by another person.
Spinal cord injury is damage to the nerve fibers along your spinal cord, which relays messages between your brain and the nerves in the rest of your body.
This type of trauma with an incomplete classification preserves partial sensation or motor function below the spot where the damage occurred.
A complete one does not; all communication with the brain is blocked below that point.
The higher the trauma site, the more of the body is at risk.
Very high ones can result in quadriplegia, and the person may even require a ventilator to breathe.
Lower injuries may leave arm and hand function intact but still affect the bladder and legs.
Most spinal cord injuries are caused by trauma, but some are the result of diseases such as polio, cancer, and spina bifida.
Vehicular accidents are the leading cause, accounting for almost half of the new cases recorded each year.
These are followed by falls, which particularly afflict those over the age of 65.
Other causes include sports injuries and violent assaults that lead to knife and gunshot wounds.
How do I protect the rights of myself or a loved one? If your spinal cord injury is the result of someone else's actions, and if this can be proven legally, that person may be held responsible for the consequences of their behavior.
Since car accidents cause the greatest number of them, it is not uncommon for the affected person to be the driver who was not responsible for the accident itself.
If this is true, the liable driver and their insurance company have a legal duty to cover the victim's expenses.
The aforementioned situation can get complicated, and it would be best to reach out for help.
If you find yourself in such a situation, it may be a good idea to contact an Chicago Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer to help you learn your rights and assess your options.
Your expenses can run far beyond the immediate medical bills, and insurance companies will likely be hesitant to help you with these expenses if they can at all avoid it.
With an incomplete injury, you may have lengthy and costly physical therapy sessions; with a complete one, you may have to equip your whole home or body with specialized products to help you perform whatever daily functions you can.
These expenses add up quickly, which is what makes proper legal representation essential if you are concerned with having the most enabling environment available as you try to adjust to your spinal cord injury.
And keep in mind that no matter how the impairment changes your life, you are not alone.
There are several national and international organizations dedicated to bringing together and assisting all people dealing with this affliction, and some of the leading medical institutions are hard at work developing new techniques to lessen the impact it will have on your daily activities.
