If someone else’s negligence injured you in an accident, you know how physically, emotionally, and financially difficult that can be. If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury, the consequences are that much more devastating.
No prevailing definition exists for the term catastrophic injury, but an overarching definition helps determine whether an injury qualifies as catastrophic. This classification will also guide the trajectory of your personal injury claim.
Contact a lawyer about your catastrophic injury claim
Catastrophic Injuries Defined
Legal claims typically define catastrophic injuries as those that preclude the injured party from remaining gainfully employed. As such, you’ve sustained a catastrophic injury if it prevents you from working and thus renders you unable to provide for your own or your family’s welfare. An injury that leaves you unable to work is an obvious financial catastrophe, but it can also leave overwhelmingly negative physical and emotional consequences.
If you suffered a catastrophic injury that someone else’s negligence caused, retain experienced legal counsel to help you through the overwhelming impacts with which you’re dealing. An experienced personal injury lawyer, however, will not only apprise you of your rights but will also aggressively advocate for those rights and for your rightful compensation. The dedicated legal team at The Law Office of Hurst Limontes LLC in Indianapolis has the skill, knowledge, and compassion to fight for your claim’s best possible resolution, and we’re here to help.
Contact a lawyer about your catastrophic injury claim
Indiana Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries often strike your body’s messaging center—the central nervous system. Such injuries include brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, which can lead to paralysis. While almost any type of injury can reach the definition of catastrophic, certain injuries are most commonly associated with catastrophic injuries:
- Fractured bones
- Organ damage
- Serious burns
- Amputations
- Exposure to dangerous toxins and chemicals
Though nearly any type of accident can result in a catastrophic injury, construction site accidents and motor vehicle accidents—especially if they involve a pedestrian, a bicyclist, a motorcyclist, or a tractor-trailer—are the most common causes.
Catastrophic Damages
With catastrophic injuries come catastrophic damages. The seriousness of these injuries often cause permanent damages that can lead to unpredictable consequences throughout the victim’s lifetime. Furthermore, because catastrophic injuries are tied with the loss of employment and because career and sense of self correlate so closely, these injuries can cause especially traumatizing emotional and psychological consequences.
A catastrophic injury can alter the course of your life in the blink of an eye and can lead to nearly incalculable emotional, physical, and financial damages. Although no amount of money can ever truly cover your losses, you at least deserve the legal damages that most closely approach compensating you for the full scope of your losses.
The Financial Expense
Because catastrophic injuries are so all encompassing, they typically result in extremely high medical and healthcare costs. These might include:
- Emergency transportation from the scene of the accident
- Emergency medical treatments
- Surgeries and aftercare
- Medical appointments and treatments provided by doctors, specialists, and physical therapists
- Ongoing medical treatments, care, and therapy
- Prescription medications
- Adaptive medical devices to aid physical needs
- Home adaptations
- Home health care
- Mental health counseling, care, and treatments
In addition to immense, these attendant expenses are also unpredictable—because catastrophic injuries often take unpredictable courses. The ongoing healthcare needs and medical costs can grow exponentially as your injuries reveal themselves with time and as new physical and psychological symptoms continue to present themselves. Never underestimate the extent of a catastrophic injury.
Catastrophic injuries are as unique as the people who suffer from them. An experienced personal injury attorney, however, will carefully investigate your accident and your claim to help determine the overall scope of your damages—including projected future damages—and help navigate your claim toward the compensation to which you are entitled.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs)
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are so serious and are so closely associated with catastrophic injuries that it’s worth digging a little deeper. TBIs are caused by trauma to the head and are associated with a range of symptoms:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Numbness and weakness
- Unconsciousness
- The sudden onset of incoordination, speech difficulties, and confusion
- The sudden onset of extreme fatigue, persistent headaches, and sleep disturbances
- The sudden onset of changes in mood or personality
Traumatic brain injuries are highly unpredictable, and as such are closely associated with attendant, challenging emotional and psychological consequences.
Emotional Hurdles
TBI victims often find that they’re no longer comfortable managing their emotions, which can lead to a lost or diminished sense of self. Many sufferers adopt coping mechanisms that can lead to both personal and social isolation and that can morph into serious mental health consequences, including significant depression and increased anxiety. By their very nature, traumatic brain injuries tend to alter one’s personal relationships—as they alter the sufferer’s sense of self. As such, TBIs can significantly reduce a victim’s support system, which usually consists of the friends, family members, and loved ones whose relationships the TBI has damaged. TBIs, in other words, can produce a snowball effect that sends sufferers on an extremely dangerous path.
Contact Our Office to Consult with an Indiana Personal Injury Lawyer Today
If someone else’s negligence caused you to suffer a traumatizing catastrophic injury, you’re likely overwhelmed and unsure of where to turn for help. You need experienced legal counsel, and the dedicated legal team at The Law Office of Hurst Limontes LLC in Indianapolis is here to aggressively fight for your rights and for your rightful compensation. Our skilled personal injury attorneys have the experience, knowledge, commitment, and compassion to help guide your catastrophic injury claim toward just compensation. We’re here to help, so please contact or call us at (317) 636-0808 to schedule a free consultation today.