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Recovering from traumatic brain injury

On Behalf of | Jun 25, 2019 | Uncategorized |

Can you imagine waking up after a car crash and finding yourself unable to move your legs? What if you couldn’t speak? Would you let it affect you when the surgeon tells your family they’ll need to wait a year to see if you might ever walk again? How much courage and resolve do you think you would need to push for recovery?

The Indy Star recently covered the story of one Indiana teen who showed such courage and resolve. The young man had been a star basketball player before he got involved in a crippling car accident. After the first responders pulled him out of his car and brought him to the hospital, his fractured skull and traumatic brain injury left him unable to walk or speak.

Injuries with dramatic long-term effects

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injuries are far more common than you may realize:

  • Every year, roughly 1.7 million Americans will suffer a traumatic brain injury
  • 52,000 will die
  • 275,000 need to be hospitalized
  • Traumatic brain injuries contribute to nearly one-third of all injury-related deaths
  • Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of fatal traumatic brain injuries

In fact, even as the former basketball player was pushing through his recovery, learning to speak and walk and go to college, The Republic wrote about another Columbus teen who suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of a crash. Like the boy, this girl was a high-achieving athlete who pushed for recovery, and she regained her ability to walk.

But such recoveries don’t come cheap. The CDC says victims can expect to work through a range of different issues, including:

  • Failures in their attention spans and memories
  • Lost motor function
  • Difficulty with all their senses, including hearing, sight and touch
  • Behavioral issues such as depression, anxiety and mood swings

Victims need to keep working on these issues long after they leave the hospital. And the hospital bills and therapy bills can add up. The CDC estimates that one year of America’s traumatic brain injuries has a lifetime cost of roughly $76.5 billion.

Liability insurance wont likely cover the damages

Car accidents are a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. But Indiana law only says drivers need to carry liability insurance worth $25,000 per person. There’s no way that $25,000 could ever cover the cost of crippling brain injuries such as the two Indiana athletes suffered. That means if you or someone you love ever suffers such an injury, you’ll want to look for other options. An experienced lawyer can help you pursue the recovery you deserve.