One of the most severe injuries a person can suffer in an automobile collision is a spinal cord injury. These injuries can lead to partial or total paralysis, changing someone’s life forever. In this article, we’ll take a look at the relationship between car accidents and spinal injuries, and your legal recourse afterwards.
What is the Spinal Cord?
The spinal cord can be described as a spongy bundle of nervous tissue encased by the vertebrae that make up your spine. The spinal cord is responsible for relaying sensory information to the body and brain. Consequently, this relay of information allows us to both move and feel our limbs.
How Automobile Collisions can Cause Spinal Cord Injuries
An automobile collision can result in a sudden blow to the spinal cord or the surrounding tissues. This severe trauma can, subsequently, cause vertebrae to break or the sensitive tissues to become crushed or dislocated.
If the injury spreads down the spine, it can result in damage to the nervous system that interferes with your motor function. Any damage can result in difficulty functioning even if the cord has not been 100% severed.
Effects of Spinal Cord Injuries
The effects of these injuries depend on where the injury occurred, as well as how severe the trauma was. Possible effects could include:
- Paralysis
- Loss of feeling
- Spasms
- Severe Pain
- Difficulty with breathing or coughing
- Loss of bowel and bladder control
Surprisingly, these injuries can develop days and even weeks after the initial automobile collision. Therefore, it is important to seek prompt medical attention after an automobile collision. After seeking medical attention, you’ll then need to pursue adequate representation in your case against the negligent party.
Automobile Collision Attorneys
If you or a loved one have suffered an injury due to the negligence of another driver, you deserve to have an experienced personal injury attorney in your corner.
Maginnis Howard’s lead personal injury attorney, T. Shawn Howard, is experienced in handling complex automobile collision cases, including those involving a negligent driver.
We handle personal injury claims on a contingency basis. Additionally, you can contact our firm at (919).526.0450, by email at info@carolionalaw.com or through our contact page.
