Dothan Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
Spinal cord injuries can occur in a variety of ways. Motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, sports and recreation accidents, medical errors, and acts of violence are a few of the most common causes of these serious, life-changing injuries.
In many cases, someone else’s negligence serves as the underlying cause.
If you believe that you suffered spinal cord injury due to the wrongdoing of another, then you should seek help from an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Attorney Aaron Gartlan is here to provide spinal cord injury victims in Dothan and surrounding communities in Alabama with aggressive advocacy.
His goal is to recover maximum compensation for them so they can get the medical treatment they need and the justice they deserve.
To discuss your spinal cord injury case with him in a free consultation, call or reach us online today.
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What are the Levels of Spinal Cord Injury?
The spinal cord links the brain to the nerves in the rest of a person’s body. This is why a spinal cord injury can be so devastating. When a spinal cord injury occurs, the brain cannot send signals to parts of the body which are located below the point of the injury. The higher the spinal cord injury, the more severe the injury will be.
The levels of a spinal cord injury are:
- Cervical – These are the most severe spinal cord injuries. They affect the spinal cord anywhere from the top of the neck to the chest area. They can cause a total loss of use and sensation in all limbs.
- Thoracic – This type of injury occurs just below the cervical portion of the spine and extends to a person’s lower back. While these injuries can be as serious as cervical injuries, they rarely result in death.
- Lumbar – These injuries occur far down in the lower back. They can result in loss of function in the hips and legs, leave victims with bladder and bowel control issues and require them to wear braces in order to walk.
- Sacral – This type of spinal cord injury occurs near the tailbone at the very bottom of the spine. Like a lumbar injury, this injury can prevent a person from being able to walk.
What are the Types of Spine and Back Injuries?
Spinal cord injuries generally fall into one of two categories. They are either:
- Complete – When the spinal cord is fully severed or compressed, which prevents the brain from sending signals below the point of the injury.
- Incomplete – When an injury leaves the spinal cord only partially compressed or damaged. The brain can still send signals below the point of the injury when an incomplete injury occurs.
Although these are the two broad categories of spinal cord injury, many specific types of injury can happen. These injuries include:
- Anterior cord syndrome – When the anterior spinal artery is compressed, which causes complete motor paralysis and loss of sensation.
- Central cord syndrome – When an incomplete spinal cord injury occurs that affects the portion of the spinal cord located in the neck.
- Brown-Sequard syndrome – When a spinal cord injury causes a neurological condition that is marked by weakness on one side of the body and a loss of sensation in the opposite side of the body.
- Paraplegia – One of the most serious spinal cord injuries, paraplegia results in total loss of feeling in the lower extremities.
- Tetraplegia – Also known as quadriplegia, this injury results in the loss of feeling and use in all four limbs and the torso.
The negligence of others can also result in sprains, strains, herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, and more. Like spinal cord injuries, these back and spine injuries can also have a lifelong impact on victims. Their loved ones carry the burden as well.
Living with Spinal Cord Injury
Living with a spinal cord injury is extremely difficult.
It changes a person’s life, including the person’s ability to work and enjoy life as he or she did before the injury.
In most cases, the injury also requires expensive medical treatment.
The diagnosis of a spinal cord injury typically requires X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.
Those tests are highly costly. However, they are just the beginning.
Treating spinal cord injuries can also require a combination of surgery, hospitalization, medication, and therapy. The hospital bills quickly pile up.
For example, the average treatment costs for an incomplete motor function injury – one of the least severe types of spinal cord injury – is $347,484 for the first year alone and $42,206 for each subsequent year, according to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
If a victim suffers the injury at around age 25, the injury will cost them an estimated $1.1 million by the time he or she reaches age 50.
A spinal cord injury victim should not be forced to bear these costs alone if someone else was responsible for it.
Aaron Gartlan is an experienced personal injury attorney who is passionate about helping spinal cord injury victims to pursue full and fair compensation that will help them to address their medical expenses and more.
How Can a Lawyer Help with Your Spinal Cord Injury Claim?
Accident victims should not try to handle their claims on their own.
When you work with the law firm of Gartlan Injury Law, you can count on us to:
- Investigate your claim – To prove that someone else caused the injury, you will need evidence. We can obtain this evidence by conducting a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, you can focus on your health and your family.
- Calculate your damages – Accident victims don’t always understand how much their injury will cost them. Aaron Gartlan will calculate your present and future costs so as to ensure that you pursue a full and fair amount in damages.
- Demand compensation – Aaron is a skilled and experienced negotiator who refuses to back down when dealing with insurance companies. If no settlement agreement can be reached, he will be ready to put a strong case before a jury on your behalf.
These are just a few of the ways in which the law firm of Gartlan Injury Law will help you to move on with your life after you have experienced a catastrophic spinal cord injury.
Get Help from a Dothan Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Today
The bottom line: If you have suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of another person’s negligence, Gartlan Injury Law will work hard to hold any at-fault party – and its insurance company – fully accountable for the harm that you have needlessly suffered.
Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and allow us to review your case in more detail.
