Any type of accidental injury can result in serious damages. You may have ongoing health problems relating to your injury, or require extensive ongoing treatment and physical rehabilitation. You may have suffered lost wages due to missed days as work, and may even have a permanent injury which impairs your ability to function in your job field. The effects of accidental injuries are often felt within families as well, as your finances are impacted and your injury may prevent you from participating in hobbies and activities you once enjoyed. Perhaps no injury has as dramatic an impact in all of these areas as a spinal cord injury. Accidents causing spinal cord injuries are severe and often catastrophic events, and may even result in the death of the person who was injured. It is important to understand how this type of traumatic injury occurs, as well as the devastating effects they can have on people who suffer them.
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
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According to Johns Hopkins Medicine , there are over 12,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries each year in the United States. Spinal cord injuries occur as the result of a bruise, partial tear, or complete tear in the spinal cord, and can result in a diminished or complete absence of movement, sensation, and organ function that occurs below the section of the spinal cord that was injured. Injuries are either incomplete, meaning there may be some sensory or motor function below the level of the injury, or complete, meaning a total lack of sensory or motor function below the injury. The three classes in which spinal injuries fall are:
- Paraplegia , meaning a loss of movement and sensation in the legs and lower half of the body;
- Triplegia , meaning the loss occurs in the legs as well as one arm; and
- Quadriplegia, meaning there is a loss of sense and movement in all four limbs.
Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
In studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health, the most common causes of spinal cord injuries include the following:
- Motor vehicle accidents;
- Falls;
- Gunshot wounds;
- Motorcycle crashes;
- Diving accidents; and
- Medical/surgical complications.
In addition to the above, children may be susceptible to spinal cord injuries through playground agreement, bicycle accidents, and trampolines. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCI) , in the past spinal cord injuries were often associated with young people, and sports and recreational accidents were a frequent cause. Today, people remain active well into adulthood, and while the average age of a person who suffered a spinal cord injury in the 1970s was 29, today the average age today is 42. Though less common than some other types of injuries, spinal cord injuries are a main cause of disability as well as death in the United States.
Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you or a loved one has suffered an accident resulting in a spinal cord injury, contact our experienced South Carolina personal injury attorney right away. At the Lauren Taylor Law, our attorney has experience successfully handling personal injury cases, and getting victim’s compensation for their injuries. You may be entitled to recover damages such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Serving all of Upstate South Carolina, call or contact us online for an initial consultation.
South Carolina divorce attorney Lauren Taylor practices family law in Charleston and Greenville. She graduated from the Charlotte School of Law, and has been practicing for more than ten years.
Since the firm’s inception in 2012, Mrs. Taylor has helped hundreds of people navigate the uncertainties surrounding the family and criminal court process.
She has cultivated a team that ensures each case has a strategy crafted specifically to the clients needs and desires.
Her commitment to top notch service has led her to open two additional offices in the low country where she now resides with her husband Michael and her golden retriever, Buster.