Rockford Amputations Injury Lawyer
Traumatic Amputations
Life will never be the same again after losing a limb. Going through an accident traumatic enough to lead to amputation is a horrifying ordeal, and you should consider all possibilities for seeking to recover your damages based on what you’ve experienced. As a Rockford personal injury attorney, Paul M. Marriett would be happy to sit down with you and discuss the details of your case. If you choose to take legal action, we’ll work hard from start to finish to fight for what you deserve.
What Kinds of Accidents Lead to Amputations?
It takes a particularly serious injury to bring forward the possibility of an amputation. Often, it’s incidents that involve either high speeds or heavy pieces of equipment – or both – that will result in enough damage to make amputation necessary. These kinds of accidents aren’t particularly common in automobile crash cases, fortunately, but they are devastating when they do occur and the frequency of such events happening in a crash involving motorcyclists and their passengers is much higher than in a typical automobile crash. As an example the 2018 National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration report on amputation accidents indicates that there were 1297 car crashes that resulted in amputations in the United States in 2018, with 62 of those occurring on our Illinois Roadways.
Crashes that can sometimes lead to amputations include the following categories:
- Car Accidents – your limbs are in great danger when you are involved in a powerful car accident. Specifically, your legs may be at risk, since they are in an area of the vehicle that could become compressed in the crash, leading to crushing injuries. These types of injuries are sometimes too severe to be fixed in surgery, and amputation might be the only option after you are seen by a medical team. There’s also risks of compartment syndrome that can occur if a crush injury is not treated in a timely manner. Delays in treatment, or delays waiting for rescue can increase the chances that an amputation may need to be performed after an injury.
- Truck Accidents – these are simply bigger, more powerful versions of car accidents. When a commercial truck gets into a crash, the outcome is typically brutal in nature – serious injuries or fatalities are the common results. This is particularly true if you are in a passenger vehicle that is struck by a commercial truck and trailer. The mismatch in size between these two pieces of equipment is going to often lead to terrible injuries for those in the smaller vehicle.
- Helicopter or Airplane Accidents – the power that is associated with these kinds of accidents needs no explanation. If you are fortunate enough to survive such a crash, you might come away with very significant injuries – and those injuries may lead to the need to amputate one or more of your limbs in the aftermath.
- Motorcycle and Bicycle Accidents – these incidents happen with a greater frequency during our warmer months and while not a routine occurrence a few dozen major cases occur every year in Rockford and our surrounding communities. Many riders and their passengers may not wear full safety gear or are simply crossing a major arterial road when a collision occurs. The size of the vehicles involved and the lack of protective measures in such a crash often lead to more severe results which includes fatal crashes, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and other catastrophic consequences.
Can I Recover Damages in a Traumatic Amputations Case?
Simply put – yes, it’s possible to recover damages after you undergo a traumatic amputation. Does that mean you are guaranteed to collect damages? Of course not – but it’s certainly worth your time and effort to consider your options and see what might be available based on the facts of the case.
It’s never easy to win a personal injury case, so you can’t afford to leave any stone unturned along the way. Working with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible is a good start, and you’ll want to make sure your representation is willing to go the extra mile to find as much evidence and witness testimony as possible to further your arguments. Damages may be available for things like medical bills, missed wages, pain and suffering, loss of a normal life and more, but that’s only possible if you make the first move and get started on this case right away.
Adjusting to Life as an Amputee
There is no way to prepare for living life suddenly without one or more of your limbs. To say this is a big change in lifestyle would be a major understatement. Losing a leg is even more impactful than losing an arm in most cases, but either way, you’ll have a long road ahead to get used to your new reality. Plenty of physical therapy and other forms of medical care will be needed, and you may have to give up some hobbies that you once loved to spend time doing. The situation is certainly not hopeless, and you can still live a long and fulfilling life as an amputee, but there are countless changes ahead and the near to intermediate term after an injury like this occurs can be made more difficult trying to deal with an insurance company that wants to get out the door paying you as little as possible before they go back to trying to make more and more money, leaving you to pick up the pieces.
Included in that long road is finding a viable way to make a living. If the type of work you did previously is no longer possible because of your amputation, you’ll need to find a new job – and all of the experience that you had accumulated in that former career can be for naught. This is a factor to take into consideration when thinking about filing a civil lawsuit. Since you are now starting over from a career perspective, your potential earnings through the rest of your working years will be reduced – and the party to blame for this event should be held responsible for reducing your potential income moving forward.
I Am Being Offered a Settlement – What Should I Do?
In some cases, victims will be offered a settlement from the insurance company after taking very little action – or even after taking no action at all. If you are suddenly offered a settlement in exchange for giving up your right to a future lawsuit against the at-fault party, you might feel conflicted as to what you should do.
What you shouldn’t do is sign the settlement right away without first getting some advice. Losing a limb is a huge deal and such a case may be worth a lot of money if it goes all the way to court and is left to a judgment. If you give away the right to this case by taking a modest settlement before you have a lawyer on your side, you might come to regret that decision for the rest of your life because it is an incredibly difficult if not impossible task to try and “unwind” a settlement that was entered into quickly without counsel if the insurance company has complied with the routine basics of Illinois contract law.
The Big Picture
It can be hard to see your path to a brighter future in the immediate aftermath of an amputation. With that said, seeking and securing damages in your case may help you figure out what should come next – and the future might start to look a little brighter as a result. What people are often surprised about in these cases is that the insurance company involved in the defendant’s case often will come out and do a crash reconstruction within 24 hours of a catastrophic injury crash. This includes witness identification and communication, drone imaging of the roadway, using scientific crash reconstructions with a team of experts they use on cases around the country, and even starting to place surveillance on the injured party to see how injured “they really are”. In numerous cases injured people have called Paul Marriett to their hospital room and no sooner is he going over the basics of a case with the client and his/her family, they’ll have a knock at the door with an insurance adjuster trying to get in to see the person who was hurt. It truly is a surreal situation but we’ve experienced it happening dozens of times on major injury cases.
Contact A Amputation Injury Attorney For Help
The Law Office of Paul M. Marriett would be happy to speak with you in a free consultation to learn more about your situation and help you understand the types of compensation that may be available. Reach out to a Rockford personal injury lawyer to learn more, you can call or text message us 24/7/365 at 815-391-0089, reach us securely through our home page, or email Paul directly at paul@marriettlegal.com for assistance.