Georgia Spinal Injury Lawyer
It is estimated that nearly 5.4 million people live with paralysis in the United States, and spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the leading causes. In 2018 alone, the Central Registry reported 570 spinal cord injuries treated in Georgia hospitals.
Most bones, muscles, and body tissue that gets injured will eventually heal. Unfortunately, the spinal cord is an exception; a serious injury to the spinal cord is often permanent. Depending on the severity and location of the injury, victims may suffer partial or full paralysis for the rest of their lives.
If you or someone you love has sustained a serious spinal cord injury or a serious back injury due to another person’s actions, we can help. For more than 20 years, the Georgia spinal injury attorneys at Scholle Law have helped our clients recover maximum compensation from the people responsible – money they can use to support themselves, get needed medical care, and be fully compensated for a life-altering accident.
You do not need to face your injuries alone. Our paralysis attorneys are here to help you. Call us at (866) 592-1296 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation today.
What is a Spinal Cord Injury?
The spinal cord is a thick cord of nerve tissue contained and protected by our spines, made up of vertebrae. It serves as the brain’s control and communications center and can perform many basic physical functions without consulting the brain at all. When the spinal cord is damaged, the result is most often a catastrophic injury. Because spinal nerves cannot regenerate on their own, these injuries are typically permanent.
Severely injured victims of a spinal cord injury can suffer paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia (also called tetraplegia). These permanent disabilities require lifelong accommodation in a wheelchair, at minimum.
Because of the severity of spinal cord injuries and their lifelong effects, it is important to speak with a back and neck injury lawyer as soon as possible. With the help of an experienced attorney, you may be able to recover the full compensation you deserve.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
According to the National Institutes of Health, if someone suffers a sharp blow to the back, the vertebrae can break or dislocate, which tears or bruises the spinal cord. This kind of injury destroys nerve cells inside the spinal cord, whose job it is to carry electrical impulses from the brain to the body and back again. When those links are broken by damage, the brain can no longer control the parts of the body that the nerves would otherwise communicate with.
How this affects the patient depends a lot on where the injury is. Injuries lower on the spinal cord tend to affect fewer functions, because fewer nerves are cut off from the brain.
By contrast, injuries to the neck and upper back area can leave the patient partially or fully paralyzed in all four limbs and the trunk because all of those parts of the body are below the injury.
Quick and thorough treatment can minimize the damage and even restore some abilities, but a severe injury is likely to result in at least some permanent disability.
Although there have been recent advances in this area of medicine, spinal cord injuries are still devastating to the victim and their family. The most common causes of spinal cord injuries are:
- Car, truck and motorcycle accidents
- Slips and falls, especially in people over age 65
- Defective products
- Boating accidents
- Violent attacks
- Sports accidents
- Medical malpractice
Types of Paralyzing Injuries
Patients can experience various symptoms depending on the injury’s severity and location. With a “complete” spinal cord injury, the nerves do not function at any point below the injury. With a “partial” or “incomplete” spinal cord injury, on the other hand, there is some nerve function below the injury.
The three types of complete spinal cord injuries (SCI) include:
- Tetraplegia (four paralyzed limbs)
- Paraplegia (two paralyzed limbs, namely the legs)
- Triplegia (three paralyzed limbs, typically both legs and one arm)
Fortunately, thanks to modern medical intervention and advancements in treatments, a vast majority of spinal cord injuries are incomplete (meaning the injured person retains some function). Three common examples of incomplete SCI are:
Life After a Spinal Cord Injury
Because quadriplegia, paraplegia and other forms of paralysis are usually permanent, they tend to change a patient’s life forever. In severe cases, patients may need medical interventions to even breathe.
Less severe cases will still require the patient to go through extensive physical therapy to learn how to live with the paralysis. That means using assistive devices, relearning how to perform basic tasks, and in some cases, securing the help of a health aide. The patient’s home may need to be rearranged to accommodate a wheelchair or other medical device.
All of this medical intervention can be quite expensive, even if the patient has health insurance. This kind of enormous and unexpected expense can be a huge burden on a family, especially if they are also dealing with a loss of income because the patient can no longer work at their former job.
And on top of all of that, patients may grieve for the loss of their former lives, hobbies, and abilities, while family members may suffer from the loss of their loved one’s care, companionship, and help with practical tasks.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Georgia Spinal Injury Lawyer Today
From left: Attorneys Annette Malena, Charles Scholle,
and Todd I. Shugart
While spinal cord injuries are devastating, you do not have to face the aftermath alone. At Scholle Law, we understand how to prove a claim based on a complex, permanent injury like paralysis, and we have a strong record of results for clients in similar situations.
Our team of skilled attorneys can help you recover compensation not only for your financial losses and expenses, but also for your intangible losses, such as loss of enjoyment of life.
Call us at (866) 592-1296 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation with a Georgia back and neck injury attorney today.