The legal definition of a catastrophic injury is an injury with direct and proximate consequences that permanently prevent an individual from performing any gainful work. A catastrophic injury leaves the victim with permanent damage.
Catastrophic injuries can occur as a result of physical harm to the brain and/or spinal cord. Catastrophic injuries will have serious short-term and ongoing effects on an individual’s ability to function. Most personal injury law officials agree that catastrophic injuries can be fatal, cause permanent disability, or are permanently disfiguring.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries
Every injury is different, and although some are more painful and significant, others can be less severe. Catastrophic injuries have serious, long-term, life-altering consequences. Typically, catastrophic injuries require medical treatment and surgical procedures.
Some of the most common injury accidents occur after truck crashes, severe motor vehicle crashes, and in cases of traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and paralysis. If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury because of the negligence of another, contact Mike Agruss Law to discuss your right to compensation for your injuries.
Generally, catastrophic injuries are divided into three categories:
- Physical injuries include amputation, burns, fractures, and damage to orthopedic function or tissue.
- Spinal cord injuries are injuries that affect the spinal cord, creating permanent mobility issues for survivors.
- Cognitive injuries originate after brain damage and take away a person’s ability to work, speak, or form new memories. Cognitive injuries can be the most costly injuries due to the amount of recovery necessary.
Catastrophic injuries impact the victim and their family. Providing care for someone with mobility or cognitive limitations will be physically and emotionally exhausting. Some working spouses will be forced to leave their jobs to devote themselves to the full-time care of their loved ones.
A catastrophic injury can limit the future of survivors and their families. You don’t have to deal with it alone. Mike Agruss Law’s experienced catastrophic injury attorneys are ready to serve you and your family, advocate for your rights, and support your personal injury claim.
Catastrophic injuries could also involve:
- Permanent disability or loss of function
- Inability to work full-time
- The need for lifelong assistance, care, or accommodations
- The need for lifelong medications
- The need for prosthetics or assistive devices (like walkers, canes, or wheelchairs)
- Severe scarring or disfigurement
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Amputation
- Loss of sight (acquired blindness)
- Loss of hearing (acquired deafness)
- Severe burn injuries
- Paralysis
What is a catastrophic leg injury?
Catastrophic leg injuries can be caused by physical, spinal cord, or cognitive injuries. Disfigurement, amputation, and paralysis could all occur as a result of a severe injury. Catastrophic injuries involve physical injuries, limitations, family life, work-life, and a person’s ability to enjoy life.
Catastrophic leg injuries are some of the easiest to detect, but other injuries or effects may not be so easy to pick up on. A person with a head injury, for example, may appear normal after a period of recovery but have lasting disabilities such as:
- Inability to concentrate
- Inability to handle financial affairs
- Irritability
- Mood swings
- Memory loss
- Personality change
People with obvious catastrophic injuries, such as paralysis, experience debilitating side effects like skin breakdown, urinary tract infections (UTI), or neuropathic pain. Some of the side effects of a catastrophic injury can be as life-altering as the more visible effects of a serious accident. All effects of an injury should be taken into account in a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
When attorneys at Mike Agruss Law represent individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries, we evaluate the impact on their entire lives. We consider how the person is affected after the car crash, explosion or fall, and how their life will continue to be impacted over time.
Causes Of Catastrophic Injuries
The causes of catastrophic injuries vary, but the experienced personal injury attorneys at Mike Agruss Law have experience with the following injury causes:
- Car accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Sports accidents
- On-the-job accidents
- Boating accidents
- Trampoline accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Fires and explosions
- Defective products
- Medical malpractice
- Horseback riding accidents
- Falls from great heights
- Violent crime
- Bicycle accidents
- Jet ski accidents
If you or a loved one experience one of the above accidents, and you think that someone else was to blame for your injuries, contact Mike Agruss Law right away.
Catastrophic Injury Recovery
There are a variety of different types and causes of catastrophic injuries, but all survivors are affected long-term. Most likely, you’re facing a lengthy rehabilitation program, chronic pain, disfigurement, and profound emotional impairments.
Many people who have suffered brain injuries have been forced to quit working even after reaching “maximum recovery” and looking well to others. Catastrophic injuries aren’t easy to overcome, and you don’t just get progressively better.
Injury victims and their families live with the impacts of a catastrophic injury, day in and day out for the rest of their lives. If the accident was caused by somebody else’s negligence, carelessness, or willful misconduct, it’s time to speak with an experienced attorney.
Our skilled team can help you determine exactly how much compensation you need to recover for the lifelong expenses and damages caused by your catastrophic injury. We’re ready to be your advocate as you put your life back together.
Personal injury law experts recommend speaking with an experienced attorney If you have suffered a catastrophic injury because they can help you to understand your rights after you are seriously harmed, including your right to pursue legal action for damages against the at-fault party.
After a catastrophic injury, nothing can restore you to the same physical and emotional state that you were in before the accident. However, filing a legal action can help you recover compensation for your pain, suffering, medical expenses, property damage costs, diminished quality of life, therapy and rehabilitation costs, and more.
Contact Mike Agruss Law today to schedule a free consultation with our personal injury lawyers. We are here to support you and advocate for your right to compensation.
