A car accident can cause devastating spinal cord injuries in just seconds, leaving victims with lifelong challenges. These injuries require immediate medical attention to prevent further harm, and prompt legal action to secure critical evidence and protect your rights. If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury, consulting a Las Vegas car accident lawyer early can help safeguard your recovery and future compensation.
What Is a Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury occurs when damage is done to the bundle of nerves that runs down the center of your back, carrying signals between your brain and the rest of your body. The spinal cord is essential for movement, feeling, and basic body functions. If it’s bruised, cut, crushed, or torn, those signals can be blocked or changed.
Injuries can be either “complete,” meaning there is total loss of movement and sensation below the point of injury, or “incomplete,” where some function or feeling still exists. Often, these injuries lead to problems such as paralysis, a loss of sensation, muscle weakness, numbness, or issues with bladder and bowel control.
How a Car Accident Causes Spinal Cord Injuries
It doesn’t always take a severe crash to cause spinal cord injuries. Sometimes, even more minor accidents can lead to these tragic outcomes. Some common ways spinal cord injuries happen in car accidents include:
Sudden Violent Movements
Car crashes force your body to jerk or twist in unnatural ways, even in lower-speed impacts. This instant force can stretch or compress the spinal cord if the pressure is strong enough.
Heavy Blows and Impact
When your back, neck, or head hits another object inside the car (like the seat, dashboard, or window), the direct trauma can dislocate or fracture the vertebrae. These broken or misaligned bones may press down on, bruise, or sever the spinal tissue.
Crush Injuries
Spinal cord injuries can also result from rollovers, pile-ups, or situations where part of your body is trapped or crushed by the force of the collision. This can cause major, sometimes irreversible, harm.
Spinal cord injuries aren’t always obvious right away, so make sure you get medical treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you get looked at, the sooner you can get started on your recovery.
Long-Term Impact on Victims and Families
A spinal cord injury from a car accident changes a person’s life, often forever. It also impacts their loved ones. Here’s how:
Career-Ending Injuries
Some victims aren’t able to return to their previous job or work at all because of physical limitations. For many, this can mean the loss of a lifelong career and significant income.
Permanent Disability
Spinal cord injuries can lead to partial or complete paralysis, where a person cannot use parts of their body anymore.
Loss of Independence
Tasks that once seemed simple, like moving around the home, driving, bathing, or getting dressed, become much more difficult or even impossible for the injured person to do on their own. A loved one or professional caregiver may need to help them.
Emotional Distress and Depression
Adjusting to life with disability can be emotionally overwhelming. Feelings of grief, depression, frustration, and anxiety are common.
Lifetime Medical Costs
People living with spinal cord injuries often face ongoing medical treatments, expensive equipment, therapy, and frequent hospital visits, leading to healthcare costs that may never end.
Living with spinal cord damage can change every aspect of a victim’s life. This makes it critical to get legal and medical help as soon as possible.
Proving Liability in a Spinal Cord Injury Car Accident Case
Proving who was at fault in a car accident that causes a spinal cord injury is crucial but can be challenging. You need to show clear evidence of how the crash happened and why the other party is responsible for your injuries.
Collecting Accident Scene Evidence
Photos of vehicles, skid marks, street signs, weather conditions, and the crash scene in general can provide evidence of what may have led to the accident. It’s also important to gather contact and insurance information from all drivers involved in the crash. Your lawyer can also help you locate and obtain available video footage that may come from traffic cameras, house doorbell cameras, or dash cams in vehicles.
Reviewing Police Reports
After you’re in an accident, the police will come out and create a report. This usually explains what happened and who they believe caused the accident. It will also list whether anyone involved received a traffic citation. This information can help prove that someone else was responsible for your accident.
Demonstrating the Other Driver’s Negligence
You need to show that the other party behaved carelessly or broke the law behind the wheel. This may include things like texting while driving, ignoring red lights, speeding, or driving under the influence. These actions establish that the other driver breached their duty of care.
Documenting Injuries and Linking Them to the Accident
Medical records can show that you experienced a serious injury after a car accident. These records can also document what treatment you’ve received and what care you will need in the future.
These steps are essential for building a strong case and securing the compensation needed to move forward after such a devastating injury.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Builds a Spinal Cord Injury Case
A spinal cord injury can change every part of your life, so cases like these generally require help from a legal professional. An experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyer knows how to gather and present the right evidence to show what caused your injuries and how your life is affected. Here’s how they often do this:
Accident Reconstruction
Your lawyer may bring in professionals to analyze the crash scene. Using photos, damage patterns, and official reports, they recreate exactly how the collision happened, showing who was responsible.
Medical Expert Testimony
Medical experts review your test results and doctor’s reports and can explain to a judge or jury the extent of your spinal damage. They can explain how your injuries were caused.
Life Care Planning
A life care planner is often used for the most serious injuries. They build a detailed medical and care roadmap for your future, covering everything from in-home help and rehab to medical equipment, ongoing therapy, and long-term living expenses.
Economic Loss Experts
Because spinal injuries bring significant financial stress, lawyers typically consult with financial experts. These specialists help calculate lost wages and other expenses you’ll face in your lifetime.
Negotiation vs. Trial Strategy
Each case is different, and your lawyer will weigh early settlement offers against the value of fighting for more at trial. Building a spinal cord injury case takes careful attention and experienced support every step of the way.
If you or a loved one face a life-altering injury, don’t navigate this process alone. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
