Car accidents can ruin your day, damage your car, and destroy your body with a variety of injuries that require time to recover. While death is often considered the worst case scenario, other horrific possibilities can result from a car accident, such as being paralyzed. Depending on the type and severity of your injuries, you could face temporary or permanent paralysis after a car accident. If the other driver was at fault, they should be held responsible for their actions by paying the damages you will incur due to being paralyzed. At Steelman Gaunt Crowley, we are prepared to review your case during a free consultation to determine how we may assist you with filing a claim and receiving the compensation you deserve under the law. Call (573) 341-8336 to schedule your case review in our Rolla, Missouri office.
Types of Paralysis After a Car Accident
The Cleveland Clinic defines paralysis as the inability to make voluntary muscle movements. While this is an accurate description, it is also simplified. Paralysis after a car accident can be highly complicated, and there are many different types and variations that people may have.
Temporary or Permanent
Paralysis after a car accident can be temporary or permanent. Temporary paralysis may result from nerve damage that eventually heals or swelling of tissues around the spinal cord. This kind of paralysis eventually goes away as the injury heals. The individual regains some or all muscle control.
Permanent paralysis is irreversible. Often the result of significant spinal cord or brain injuries, individuals who are permanently paralyzed will never regain control of their muscles. This kind of paralysis after a car accident can be either complete or incomplete.
Complete or Incomplete
Paralysis is also characterized as complete or incomplete. Complete paralysis means the individual has no function, movement, or feeling below the injury site. This can also include no control over their bladder or bowels.
Incomplete paralysis means there is limited function, either movement or sensation or both, below the level of the injury. The extent and location of the injury determine how much function the paralyzed individual retains and whether that function is weaker than it was prior to the injury. Incomplete paralysis has a greater chance of recovering with rehabilitation, while complete injuries have much more limited recovery options. However, even incomplete injuries do not guarantee a full recovery.
Flaccid or Spastic
Based on the injury site in the nervous system, paralysis can also be flaccid or spastic. Flaccid is when the paralysis causes weak, very loose muscles. Spastic tightens the muscles and causes involuntary spasms and jerks.
Types of Paralysis
Localized paralysis affects only a small portion of the body. Typically, it affects the face, vocal cords, hands, or feet. Generalized paralysis affects larger areas of the body and is categorized based on the extent of the paralysis.
Quadriplegia is when all areas below the neck are paralyzed, including all limbs, the trunk, and pelvic organs. Paraplegia is when the lower half of the body, including the trunk, pelvic organs, and legs, is paralyzed. Diplegia is paralysis of corresponding sites on both sides of the body, such as both arms or both legs. Hemiplegia is paralysis on one side of the body, and monoplegia occurs when only one limb is paralyzed.
Car Accident Injuries That Cause Paralysis
After a car accident, individuals may find they have a variety of injuries from minor cuts and bruises to broken bones or traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Spinal cord injuries and TBIs are typically responsible for causing paralysis.
Spinal cord injuries may cause paralysis either through direct impact with the spinal cord or compression from surrounding tissues. TBIs may result in an individual being paralyzed if there is damage to the brain region responsible for motor control. These injuries may not be immediately apparent at the scene of the accident, which is why it is so crucial to see a doctor and get a thorough medical exam to ensure the individual’s injuries are documented and treatment is begun as soon as possible.
Early Signs of Paralysis
While many believe that paralysis occurs instantly at the time of injury, this is not necessarily the case. Because an individual may sustain an injury that can cause paralysis but not be paralyzed immediately, the time between sustaining that injury and being diagnosed and treated is crucial. In some cases, delays could make a difference between whether an individual is temporarily or permanently paralyzed, or if they end up paralyzed.
Early Signs of Paralysis
Just like people may not feel a broken bone or sprained joint after a car accident due to the rush of adrenaline and all the action taking place, individuals may sustain a spinal cord injury or TBI that could paralyze them and not immediately notice any indications of such injury. Therefore, car accident victims and their loved ones must be aware of the early signs of paralysis so they can quickly seek treatment.
Early signs of paralysis after a car accident include:
- Loss of sensation or inability to feel heat, cold, or touch
- Balance issues
- Muscle movements or spasms
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Pain or a stinging sensation
- Changes in sexual sensitivity or function
- Stiff neck, back pain, or headache
Even if these symptoms seem mild, individuals experiencing them should immediately seek medical treatment, particularly if they were told they sustained a head injury or any injuries near or to the spinal cord.
Emergency Signs of Spinal Cord Injury and Potential Paralysis
Whether the individual was diagnosed with a spinal cord injury after a car accident or not, there are some emergency signs of a spinal cord injury to be aware of. If the injured individual or one of their loved ones notices these signs, they should immediately call 911. These emergency signs include:
- Trouble breathing
- Difficulty walking or balancing
- Symptoms of shock (pale skin, blue-tinted lips or nails, altered mental state, cool clammy skin, rapid weak pulse, shallow breathing)
- Twisted neck or back
- Semi-conscious or unconscious
Damages That May Be Recovered for Paralysis After a Car Accident
When an individual is paralyzed after a car accident, it can have devastating consequences on their life, even if the paralysis is only temporary. Temporary paralysis can last minutes to months, and during that time, individuals may have to make significant changes to their employment, home, vehicle, and lifestyle to adapt to being paralyzed. Permanent paralysis will also require the same significant changes and will have a lifetime of expenses associated with it. These expenses and other damages may be recovered by filing a claim against the at-fault driver or their insurance. Steelman Gaunt Crowley’s car accident attorneys are prepared to review your case and discuss how they may be able to assist in filing your claim.
These damages include:
- Costs of surgeries and rehabilitative therapy: Individuals with paralysis often need multiple surgeries and undergo extensive rehabilitative therapy to try to restore as much sensation and movement as possible or to mitigate the effects of paralysis on the body.
- Medical bills and expenses: Hospital stays, rehabilitation center or nursing home stays, prescription medications, doctor visits, imaging and other tests, and other medical bills and costs associated with the paralysis and the injury that caused it.
- Cost of medical equipment and supplies: Home modifications such as grab bars, ramps, and widened doorways and vehicle modifications such as hand controls and wheelchair lifts, are recoverable damages. Additional supplies and equipment such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, shower chairs, adapted utensils, doorknob extenders, and others are also recoverable.
- Past and future lost income and benefits: Individuals may be able to recover lost pay and benefits beginning from the date of the accident until the present moment, as well as lost income and benefits that they would have earned in the future. This can include not just wages, but bonuses, commissions, and additional perks such as vacation time that they might have earned if not for the accident.
- Psychological injuries, mental anguish, and emotional distress: While being in a car accident can be traumatic, no matter how minor the accident is, being paralyzed as a result of an injury after a car accident can cause severe emotional distress and psychological injuries, such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental anguish, or mental pain and suffering, can also result.
- Physical pain and suffering: While the definition of paralysis may imply a lack of pain due to the potential loss of sensation, the injury that caused the paralysis often has significant pain and suffering associated with it. Additionally, paralysis often has its own pain, such as nerve pain, visceral pain, and musculoskeletal pain, that is extremely difficult to manage.
- Permanent impairment and disability: If an individual is permanently paralyzed, they may be able to recover damages for permanent impairment and disability.
- Costs of personal care and in-home health care: Even if a paralyzed individual has loved ones who assist in taking care of them, they often need additional assistance with personal care and in-home health care. They may need an aide to help with bathing, dressing, eating, drinking, and other daily activities. They may require a nurse or other home health worker to help with various medical tasks, such as changing or inserting catheters or handling feeding tubes, or to assist with moving their body so their muscles do not atrophy.
- Costs of long-term care facilities: Some individuals who are paralyzed cannot return to their homes and must move into a long-term care facility instead. The costs of these facilities can be recovered from the at-fault driver when the paralysis occurs after a car accident injury.
- Loss of quality of life, comfort, intimacy, affection, and companionship: From relationships with spouses or romantic partners to those with their children, friends, and other loved ones, becoming paralyzed often dramatically changes the individual’s relationships. While money can not change or repair these relationships, the individual may still recover damages for these changes.
However, it is important to remember RSMo §516.120 provides Missouri car accident victims with five years from the date of the accident to file their claim. While this may seem like plenty of time, it can take a long time to determine the extent and severity of the individual’s paralysis and other injuries, find and collect evidence, negotiate with insurance adjusters and otherwise prepare to file a claim. Therefore, individuals should consider consulting with an attorney and moving forward with their claim as soon as possible after the accident.
Proving Your Injuries and Damages
Paralysis after a car accident may seem easy to prove, but it still requires many of the same things as establishing any other injuries or damages that might have occurred from a car accident. Several types of evidence or testimony can be used to prove injuries and damages from a car accident.
Medical Records
Medical records are key to proving paralysis after a car accident. Individuals will need to work with their attorney or loved ones to gather all of their medical records related to the accident, from the first exam after the accident until the most recent exam, therapy, surgery, or prescription. Hospital, nursing home, or rehabilitation center records should also be included.
These records should include the medical details of the individual’s injuries, including information detailing the injury that caused the paralysis and the paralysis itself. They should also include any unpaid medical bills and receipts for those bills that have already been paid. The bills and receipts will be evidence of the expense incurred. At the same time, the records detailing the injuries and treatments will serve as evidence of the extent of the injuries and suffering the individual is going through.
Documentation of Lost Wages
Lost wages from the time of the accident to the present, as well as lost future wages, are recoverable damages. Individuals can prove lost wages with pay stubs, W-2s from previous years, and employment documents that explain wages such as commissions, bonuses, and other forms of income. Individuals will also want to gather documentation of other lost income, such as vacation or sick days, raises, health insurance, and other benefits they would have received if they had been able to work. Some of this documentation may be more difficult to find and gather proof of, so individuals may wish to consult with an attorney and their employer to discuss how they can prove these damages.
Property Repair or Modification Records and Receipts
Repairs to the vehicle involved in the accident are recoverable damages, as are anything else damaged in the accident, such as the individual’s clothing or eyeglasses or items in the car, such as tablets or phones. Individuals should keep estimates for repairing or replacing these items. If the vehicle or any damaged items are repaired or replaced before filing the claim, receipts should be kept.
Individuals who are paralyzed often need to modify their homes. They may need grab bars, ramps for wheelchairs or gurneys, doorways widened, or even a total renovation of a downstairs room to make it a bedroom because they can no longer go upstairs. They may also need to modify their vehicle or buy a new one with hand controls or a chair lift. All of these expenses are recoverable, so estimates and receipts should be kept as evidence of these damages.
Expert Testimony
With so much nuance to paralysis, expert testimony can be a critical element in recovering damages after a car accident. Experts can include the individual’s personal doctors, physical therapists, and other members of their professional care team. Other experts may include accident reconstruction specialists to reconstruct the accident and prove liability, vocational rehabilitation experts to determine the impact of the injury on the individual’s earning capacity, and economic experts to calculate lost wages, future medical expenses, and other economic damages. Life planners may also be called as experts to assess long-term care needs and testify regarding assistive devices, medical care, home modifications, and other services the individual may need.
Personal Testimony
While many damages may require receipts, bills, and other tangible evidence to prove, personal testimony can be powerful proof for other damages. When it comes to mental anguish, physical pain and suffering, or the loss of quality of life, companionship, intimacy, affection, or comfort, the injured individual and their spouse’s, children’s, or other close loved one’s testimonies can serve as strong evidence of how devastating the car accident and the injuries sustained have been on the individual’s life.
How a Missouri Car Accident Attorney Can Assist You
When what started out as a simple commute to work, a morning spent running errands, or a fun road trip can take a dramatic turn when you are involved in a car accident. When you experience paralysis after a car accident, that dramatic turn can be permanently life-altering, even if the paralysis is ultimately temporary. An experienced Missouri car accident attorney at Steelman Gaunt Crowley may be able to assist you with finding evidence, hiring experts, proving liability, negotiating with insurance companies, and representing you in court if necessary. Call (573) 341-8336 to schedule a consultation in our Rolla office to learn more about your legal rights and options.
