Spinal Cord Injuries after a Car Accident

Spinal cord injuries are among the most serious and lasting injuries a person can receive and they are unfortunately a common result of car crashes and traffic accidents. Due to the severe and often permanent nature of these injuries, it is vital that victims seek out skilled legal representation, in order to provide themselves with the greatest chance possible at securing compensation for medical expenses, ongoing treatment, rehabilitation, lost wages, and lost productivity. For Colorado car crash victims, the rest of their lives are literally at stake; there is no substitute for an experienced and qualified Colorado personal injury attorney to help manage a successful resolution to this difficult situation.

What is a spinal cord injury?

A spinal cord injury can be both emotionally and physically devastating to car crash victims. Depending on the location and severity of the injury, the Colorado car crash victim may have partial or complete paralysis. When a person loses all movement and feeling below the injury site, it is considered a complete spinal cord injury. A spinal cord injury that leaves a patient with limited mobility and sensation below the injured area is referred to as incomplete spinal cord injury.

The two primary forms of paralysis resulting from spinal cord injuries are quadriplegia (also called tetraplegia) and paraplegia. In very broad terms, someone with paraplegia has some degree of paralysis in their legs and lower body, but still has movement and feeling in their arms and hands. Someone with quadriplegia generally has paralysis in all four limbs to some extent and may have paralysis in other areas of the upper body.

Lifetime Costs of Spinal Cord Injuries

Measuring the financial impact of a spinal cord injury is difficult, since the disabilities are often substantial and permanent. Nevertheless, recent studies shed new light on the economic hardship that these victims are likely to face. The following are the estimated lifetime costs associated with the four permanent types of spinal cord injury (these statistics assume the victim's age to be 25 at the time of injury):

• impaired motor function disability: $681,843
• paraplegic injury: $1,022,038
• lower quadriplegic injury: $1,729,754
• upper quadriplegic injury: $3,059,184

(2008 Statistics furnished by University of Alabama at Birmingham.)

Sadly, these statistics only represent direct medical costs, and do not take into account lost wages and benefits, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life, which will vary from one case to the next.

Contact a Colorado Spinal Cord Injury Attorney

If you have been injured anywhere in the State of Colorado, contact Denver personal injury lawyer, Saul R. Sarney, for a FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.

To speak with a Colorado spinal cord injury lawyer about an accident or the loss of a family member, please call our office at 303-759-3300 or contact us online. We do not charge a fee to discuss how we can help you meet your legal needs.

Colorado Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Saul R. Sarney

The Colorado Personal Injury Law Firm of Saul R. Sarney, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, represents clients facing personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, and denial of insurance coverage claims throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area and areas north, including the cities of Lakewood, Aurora, Englewood, Littleton, Arvada, Greeley, Morrison, Boulder, and Broomfield, as well as Douglas County, Denver County, Jefferson County, and Arapaho County. We also represent clients in other states including Kansas, Nebraska and New Mexico.