A Serious Injury Can Change Your Life
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Serious injuries happen across America every day. They happen on the road, at work, at home, and on vacation. Sometimes it’s a freak accident no one could have seen coming, and sometimes it happens because someone was negligent and should have fixed the problem months or even years ago. However it happens, a serious injury can change your life, and almost never for the better.Lingering Pain
Serious injuries tend to cause lingering damage and pain even after most of the damage heals. For instance, joint damage like a torn ligament or a broken wrist can lead to a permanent loss of mobility, and that’s after weeks of physical therapy to regain most of the mobility the joint lost. Damaged knees are often pressure sensitive and ache when the weather changes, and while this makes you an excellent barometer it also makes it hard to walk. Then there are traumatic brain injuries, which can hurt your ability to think for the rest of your life.
Medical Bills
It’s well known that treatments, hospital stays, and medication is far more expensive in America than it is in any other developed nation, and while insurance can handle a lot of the costs you might find that it doesn’t always cover everything you’d want. High deductible insurance can wipe out your savings before its coverage starts, and if you need something other than the cheapest and oldest treatments you may have to pay for them yourself.
Lost Income
It’s hard to do most jobs from a hospital bed, and even doing something like sitting down and typing at a computer can be too painful to do for long if you have a back or wrist injury. If your job is more demanding than that you may be out of work for weeks, months, or longer, and not many businesses can afford to keep your position open and keep paying your full salary for that long. And that’s assuming your injury will let you go back to your old job in the first place.
Lost Social Life
People like to think that they’ll stand by their friends no matter what, but the sad fact is that it takes a dedicated friend to keep visiting you during a long hospital stay. Even if you get to spend most of your recovery time at home, a lot of serious injuries can make it harder to go out and enjoy time spent with friends and family. People who suffer drawn-out injuries will often become reclusive simply because it’s easier and less painful than trying to be outgoing.
When you suffer a serious injury because of someone else’s negligence or malice, the American legal system lets you sue the people and organizations responsible in order to get compensation for the injuries and damage you suffered. Money can be a cold comfort when you’re suffering from a broken spine or a traumatic brain injury, but it can help you pay your bills until you can get back on your feet. So if you believe your injury is someone else’s fault or an insurance company isn’t paying out on your claim, you should contact a personal injury lawyer right away.