Catastrophic injuries from car accidents

Car accidents only need a moment to inflict damage to a victim that lasts a lifetime. While some injuries are only scrapes and bruises, other injuries are devastating, and are called “catastrophic injuries.” These injuries have lifelong consequences and change the way a victim lives.

Every year, tens of thousands of people are killed in car accidents. These wrongful deaths are only a portion of the devastating consequences of car accidents. What ways can a catastrophic injury change the life of a victim and their family?

Life-changing injuries

Significant injuries can limit the abilities of a victim in how they encounter their day-to-day activities. Depending on the severity of the injury, a victim may need help from loved ones or caretakers to maintain a healthy lifestyle. These are only some injuries that can disrupt a way of life:

• Traumatic brain injuries – a brain injury can change the emotions or other mentalities of a person, changing the way they behave for life. These injuries can also permanently take away essential motor skills.
• Paralysis – paraplegia, and quadriplegia can keep a victim from enjoying life in the ways they used to. It can also turn features of a home like a stairway into a significant obstacle in the house.
• Amputation – if damage to a limb is severe enough, it can result in a doctor amputating a limb to save the life of the victim. The loss of an arm or leg can deny a victim many opportunities they may have previously enjoyed.
• Burns – third-degree burns can permanently scar a victim and damage their self-confidence and ability to socialize with others. Years of emotional and physical therapy may still never bring a victim to total recovery.

An experienced personal injury attorney can help a victim pursue fair compensation that accurately reflects the current and future costs of their injury. While compensation offsets the cost of the damage, the consequences of catastrophic injuries may never entirely leave.

When a catastrophic injury threatens too much against a victim and the families and friends that look after them, defensive driving can be the difference in a catastrophic injury or walking away with only a few scrapes and bruises.