Personal Injury

Accidents that Can Lead to Paralysis

If you suffered a paralyzing spinal injury, the cause of the injury is critical to determine your rights to possible compensation for your lifelong losses. Always speak with a personal injury attorney about your rights. 

Spinal cord injuries can be extremely serious and life-altering for victims, and they often happen in unexpected accidents. One second, you are going about your life as usual, and the next, you might be in an ambulance, and your life will never be the same again. Many types of accidents can lead to spinal cord trauma, which can cause a complete spinal cord injury. Complete injuries severe the spinal cord and result in permanent paralysis of the body below the location of the injury.  

If you or a loved one suffered a complete spinal injury and paralysis, you should discuss your rights with an Austin spinal cord injury attorney. Many people are able to hold others liable for their lifelong losses, and it is important to know your legal options following an accident. 

Motor Vehicle Crashes

Any type of motor vehicle accident has the potential to cause spinal trauma. This can include:

• Car accidents
• Boating accidents
• Commercial truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• ATV accidents
• Bicycle collisions with motor vehicles
• Pedestrian collisions with motor vehicles

Motor vehicles can all have a serious impact when they crash into others, and that impact can result in serious and permanent spinal injuries. 

Falls

Anytime you fall, you risk hitting your back on various objects or the ground, which can injure your spine. Falls can happen in many circumstances, including:

• Slip and falls – You might not think that a slip and fall on even ground could result in such serious injuries, though you could be surprised. Slip and falls often cause someone to suffer spinal trauma, which can potentially result in life-changing paralysis.
• Falls on stairs – Falls on stairs are dangerous because you might hit each stair as you fall – or you might fall backward down several stairs at once. This presents many opportunities for spinal cord injuries. 
• Falls from high places – Falling from heights puts you at great risk of landing on your back and causing serious damage to your spinal cord. These might include falls from roofs, ladders, scaffolding, balconies, and more. 

Violence

Some spinal injuries do not happen due to accidents, but instead intentionally wrongful conduct. If someone is violent to cause you injuries, it might impact your spinal cord. This can include:

• Hitting you with a car
• Blows to the back with a bat or blunt object
• Gunshots
• Knife wounds

Even if someone is arrested for assaulting you, it still is likely necessary to file an injury claim to recover for your spinal cord injury. This is because criminal cases rarely provide enough restitution to fully compensate seriously injured victims. Instead, you must take action to seek the financial recovery you deserve for your life-altering paralysis and ongoing losses. 

Let Our Austin Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers Help You

At Terry & Kelly, PLLC, our Austin spinal cord injury attorneys have seen firsthand how devastating this catastrophic injury can be. We can provide the assistance you need, so please call (512)-910-2000 or contact us online as soon as possible.