A variety of different diseases and injuries can cause paraplegia. In most cases in which a lawsuit is justified (because the injury was someone else’s fault), paraplegia is caused by an accident or by medical malpractice. A paraplegic injury is considered catastrophic because it will drastically alter your lifestyle, and because it may never completely heal.

And then there is the financial burden. All told, a paraplegic injury is likely to cost millions of dollars in health care and living expenses. For this and other reasons, it is critical that you pursue a personal injury claim against the party responsible for your injuries.

Accidents

When an accident causes paraplegia, it usually does so by injuring or severing the spinal cord so that signals are not transmitted effectively between the brain and the affected limbs. Paralysis is a frequent result of:

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Slip and fall accidents (falling down a flight of stairs, for example)
• Contact sports such as football or rugby
• Violent criminal assaults

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can cause paraplegia in a variety of ways. A surgeon, for example, may accidentally sever the spinal cord during an operation. He may also commit medical malpractice by failing to effectively treat a condition such as stroke or cancer that can cause paralysis. A doctor is held to a much higher standard of care than the average person is, and you can win a medical malpractice claim if you can prove that your doctor failed to meet this standard.

Calculating Your Future Damages

Since paraplegia is often a lifetime medical condition, accurately calculating your future damages is critical — and tricky. If you cannot return to your future occupation because of your injury, for example, you will be entitled to years of lost wages. You are likely to be entitled to a lifetime’s worth of health care expenses and lifestyle adjustment expenses, not to mention compensation for your pain and suffering and loss of quality of life.

The assistance of a skilled personal injury lawyer is critical under these circumstances, because if you underestimate your future damages (a very common mistake), you will not be able to come back and ask for more money later. Calculating your future damages is a job that simply has to be done right the first time.

Act Promptly and Decisively

Yes, you can afford to retain a top-tier personal injury attorney — at Glenn Martin Hammond law office, we work for free unless we win your case. It is important to get started early, however, because Kentucky’s statute of limitations deadline for filing a claim is one of the shortest in the nation. Schedule an appointment today by calling call (606) 437-7777 or by filling out our online contact form.