Corpus Christi Catastrophic Injury Attorney
Accidents happen every day in Corpus Christi. Most of these accidents result from human error brought about by negligence. Unfortunately, if you or a loved one suffered a catastrophic injury due to someone else’s negligence, you likely face a lifetime of recovery.
Fortunately, Texas law provides an avenue whereby you receive compensation for your injury and the impacts it has on your life now, and how it will affect you far in the future. An experienced Corpus Christi catastrophic injury lawyers at The Patel Firm can help you understand your legal options.
6 Instances of Catastrophic Injury?
A catastrophic injury is one of a very serious nature that presents life-altering effects on the victim’s life that may impact his or her ability to work, enjoy things he or she enjoyed doing before the injury, and accomplish daily tasks without assistance. These injuries are set apart due to their seriousness, and full recovery from such an injury is often impossible.
To give you an idea of what the law would view as a catastrophic injury, you can find a definition in a federal statute that says that it “means an injury, the direct and proximate consequences of which permanently prevent an individual from performing any gainful work.”
The American Medical Association has its own definition of catastrophic injury. According to the AMA, it is a severe injury to the spinal cord, spine, or brain.
To be clear, there is no defined legal class for catastrophic injuries. You will not automatically receive more compensation just because your injury might qualify as a catastrophic injury. It is more of a way of referring to severe injuries that could result in higher monetary damage awards because the victim has suffered disruptive impacts in every area of their life. This will make the claim much more complex because it is subject to different estimates and calculations of damages.
Examples of catastrophic injuries include:
1. Traumatic Brain Injury
According to information provided by the Brain Injury Association of America, an acquired traumatic brain injury is an alteration of the brain function caused by an external force such as a blow to the head, an object penetrating the skull and entering the brain tissue, or even the “whiplash” effect of the brain colliding against the inside of the skull due to a traumatic event such as a car accident.
A brain injury is severe if it produces:
- Loss of consciousness for more than 24 hours (known as a coma)
- No sleep/wake cycle during the loss of consciousness
- Signs of the injury appear on neuroimaging tests
While a person is experiencing a full coma, they are not eligible for any brain injury rehabilitation program. However, while some individuals remain in a coma for a long time, many will emerge from it or will experience an increased level of consciousness that will enable rehabilitation to begin.
Other consciousness disorders may appear, including:
- Vegetative state: While remaining unaware of what is going on around them, the victim begins to experience sleep/ wake cycles, normal digestion, breathing, and heart rate, may respond to pain, and may open his or her eyes.
- Persistent vegetative state: This is the term given to an individual who experiences a vegetative state for more than one year.
- Minimally conscious state: While slight, the individual shows definite self-awareness or awareness of his or her environment.
- Locked-in syndrome: Locked-in syndrome is a disorder in which the individual is alert and aware but can only move their eyes.
- Brain death: A condition in which all brain functions, including that of the brain stem, no longer work.
Even without a consciousness disorder such as those described above, individuals experiencing a severe brain injury often sustain deficits in their ability to speak, reason, control their bodily functions, or their impulses. While the brain does feature a limited ability to heal itself, many brain injury symptoms will remain throughout the sufferer’s lifetime.
2. Spinal Cord Injury
An estimated 1.2 million individuals live with some level of paralysis from a spinal cord injury. As explained by the Christopher Reeve Foundation, spinal cord trauma is more than the single event that caused the injury.
The trauma takes place over the following hours and days following the initial killing of nerves and cells due to the injury. There is a cascade of bodily responses, including loss of oxygen and the release of chemicals that exacerbate the injury. Spinal cord injuries produce a loss of function—known as paralysis—below the injury site.
There are two types of spinal cord injuries:
- Complete: This occurs from a complete loss of sensation and function below the injury site.
- Incomplete: The individual retains some function and sensation below the site of the injury.
As spinal cord injuries create paralysis below the injury site, it stands to reason that injuries occurring higher up on the spine produce a more profound impact.
There are four regions of the spine:
- Cervical: The highest part of the spine, occurring in the neck. This area of the spine controls the neck, arms, hands, and diaphragm. Injuries to this area of the spine often result in tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, which is the loss of function and sensation to all four limbs, the torso, and pelvis. The higher up the injury occurs, the more likely the sufferer will require a ventilator to breathe.
- Thoracic: This part of the spine is in the upper back region and controls function to the torso and some parts of the arms. The higher up the injury is, the less likely the individual can retain control of the torso and trunk.
- Lumbar: This is the mid-to-lower part of the spine, and those suffering injuries to this region may retain the function of the hips and legs. The lower the injury occurs, the more likely the individual can extend the knees.
- Sacral: This is the bottom-most part of the spine and is responsible for relaying signals to the toes, groin, and parts of the legs.
In addition to the loss of function and sensation to parts of the body, spinal cord injuries also produce such conditions as loss of bladder and bowel control, loss of sexual function, low blood pressure, deep vein thrombosis, spasticity, and chronic pain. Some secondary issues often experienced by spinal cord injury sufferers include pressure ulcers (bed sores), respiratory complications, urinary tract infections, obesity, and depression.
3. Amputation
Traumatic limb amputation is the loss of a body part—such as a finger, toe, arm, or leg—from an accident or injury, according to information from the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The limb might have been lost in the accident itself or later removed by doctors due to extensive damage that makes it impossible to repair.
Surgeons may reattach some limbs if special care of the residual limb is maintained. However, many times, severely damaged limbs offer no opportunity for reattachment.
Some of the complications from limb amputation include:
- Severe bleeding
- Shock
- Infection
- Phantom pain, which is a psychological condition in which the brain perceives pain, such as aching or throbbing, in a limb that is no longer present
- Grief over the lost limb
WebMD reports that about 1.8 million Americans like with an amputation. The most common amputation surgery is the leg, either above or below the knee. Long-term care for amputated limbs includes physical therapy to improve muscle strength and control, activities that help a person to develop the skills needed to carry out daily activities independently, artificial limbs and/or assistive devices, and emotional support in coping with a new body image.
4. Organ Damage
High impact accidents, such as the conditions often present in serious car accidents, can result in damage to internal organs. Not only does this place the victim at risk for internal bleeding, but it can also cause the loss of the organ, or the inability of the damaged organ to perform its usual functions within the body. The accident may break ribs, which can, in turn, damage other organs in the body.
Some of the organs that may sustain accidental damage include:
- Spleen
- Lung, such as when broken ribs collapse the lung, which is known as pneumothorax
- Abdominal aorta
- Liver
- Kidney
Often, those who suffer internal damage are unaware initially that they were injured. It is only after the symptoms of internal damage begin to appear that the individual realizes the severity of his or her situation.
Some of these symptoms are:
- Abdominal pain
- Chills
- Thirst
- Fatigue
- Pale complexion
- Feeling dizzy or light-headed
5. Severe Burns
Third and fourth-degree burns can cause permanent scarring, disfigurement, and many potential complications that can alter a person’s life. Third-degree burns present widespread thickening of the skin, as well as a leathery, white appearance. Fourth-degree burns feature the same symptoms, but the damage extends through the skin layers and into the muscles and tendons.
Some of the common complications caused by severe burns include:
- Infections, including sepsis or tetanus
- Blood loss
- Shock
- Dangerously low body temperature
- Emotional damage due to the new body image
Those suffering from a severe burn injury often require long-term care that includes surgeries, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and assisted care with completing daily tasks.
6. Blindness
The eyes are particularly susceptible to damage in many types of accidents, which may result in partial or complete loss of vision. Some of the causes of accidental blindness include penetrating trauma to the eyes, particles becoming embedded in the eye, chemicals, or electric shock. Though immediate treatment can sometimes reverse damage to vision, accidents leave many people with ongoing blindness.
Head injuries may cause blindness either by damage to the parts of the brain that control vision, as well as damage to the optic nerves. Surgery may, in some cases, repair optic nerve damage, resulting in the individual regaining some or all of his or her vision.
