You may be able to get a financial recovery from the person responsible for your Illinois car crashIn an instant your life was forever changed by the injury that you or a loved one suffered in an Illinois car crash. The cause of your crash and the specific type of accident you were involved in are important to your legal recovery; however, what matters the most is how the accident impacted you physically.

Brain Injuries

Every brain injury is unique. Even people who suffer the same type of brain injury from an Illinois car accident may suffer different symptoms and require different treatment. Some of the types of brain injuries that may result from a car accident include:

  • Nerve damage or shearing of the white matter. The sudden change in speed during a car wreck can cause the white matter of the brain to tear or shear. Damage to the nerve cells, or axons, can result and a car accident victim can be left in a coma or dead.
  • Lacerations. Rips or tears in the brain can occur when the brain hits the skull bone during a car crash or when something penetrates the skull during the collision. The results can be serious and depend on where in the brain the injury occurred.
  • Blood clots and hematomas. Dangerous blood clots can form when a blood vessel bursts during a car accident. The results for the accident victim can be catastrophic.
  • Concussions. A concussion may occur when a person’s brain hits the skull or a person’s head hits an object in the car. While many people heal from concussion injuries, the recovery period may be long and result in medical expenses and lost time from work.

If you suffer any head pain, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, or sensory changes then it is important to immediately contact a doctor for a diagnosis.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries can be life-changing. These types of injuries are often categorized as incomplete or complete. Complete spinal cord injuries include:

  • Complete paraplegia. A person who suffers complete paraplegia has no sensory or nerve impulses below the point of the spine that was injured. Typically, an individual’s arms and hands continue to function, but use of the legs and part of the trunk is impaired.
  • Complete tetraplegia. A person who suffers complete tetraplegia has typically suffered an injury in the neck or cervical area that results in paralysis of the trunk, arms, and legs.

Currently, these types of spinal cord injuries are incurable.

Incomplete spinal cord injuries include:

  • Anterior cord syndrome. This occurs when the front of the spinal cord has been damaged. Victims often have impaired temperature, touch, and pain sensations below the point of the spine that was injured, and movement may be impaired.
  • Central cord syndrome. This occurs when the center of the spinal cord is damaged. Often, an individual’s arm movement and functioning is impacted.
  • Posterior cord syndrome. This occurs when the back of the spinal cord is injured. A victim’s coordination may be significantly impacted by this type of injury.
  • Brown-Sequard syndrome. This occurs when one side of the spinal cord is injured. One side of the body may suffer from movement impairment and the other side of the body may lose sensation.
  • Cauda equina lesions. This occurs when the nerves between the first and second lumbar region of the spine are injured. Victims may suffer partial or complete loss of sensation.

All spinal cord injuries should be immediately diagnosed by a doctor.

Broken Bones

Broken bones require immediate medical treatment both for the pain and to prevent further complications. Any bone in the body may break as a result of a car crash. However, some of the more common broken bones include hips, legs, arms, ribs, pelvises, collarbones, and backbones.

Burns

Some car accidents result in car fires and victims may be unable to escape without suffering significant burns. Burns are painful and may require expensive and extensive treatment. Infection and disfigurement are serious risks that should be addressed with your doctor.

Amputations

A car accident amputation can happen in one of two ways. The injury may occur during the collision itself or, more commonly, an injury to an arm, hand, finger, leg, foot, or toe may occur that requires doctors to amputate the limb or extremity after the crash. While amputation surgery may save the life of a car accident victim, it is traumatic, expensive, and permanent.

Pregnancy Complications

A car crash presents serious risks to both expecting mothers and their unborn children. Bleeding, placenta complications, premature labor, and other pregnancy complications can occur from the force of a car crash. Accordingly, pregnant women should seek medical attention as soon as possible after an accident.

Death

A brain injury, a spinal cord injury, extensive bleeding, harm to internal organs, or other injuries could result in death after a car crash. If your close family member who died from car accident injuries then you or the representative or your loved one’s estate may have the right to sue for damages in a wrongful death action.

Where to Turn Next

If your loved one has died, or if you have suffered any of the other injuries described above, then it is important to know your rights and to protect them. You may be facing significant physical and emotional pain and you may be suffering financially due to someone else’s negligence.

Illinois law provides you with the right to recover damages for injuries that were caused by someone else’s negligence. To find out more about these rights and about how to protect your recovery, please call our experienced Illinois accident lawyers at 1-800-800-5678.

 

Jason F. Abraham
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Helping car accident and personal injury victims throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa since 1993.