Personal Injuries and How They Affect Your Injury Lawsuit in Phoenix, AZ
Every person’s accident is different, and every injury victim has a unique experience. Some people will only suffer minor injuries, and some will suffer serious injuries. How serious your injuries are will affect your injury claim or lawsuit in a number of ways.
For starters, serious injuries often lead to enormous life changes, which means you will need a larger settlement to pay for your financial losses and for all the negative ways your injuries will impact your life.
In addition, some injuries are more difficult to prove than other injury types. For instance, back injuries and head injuries can be more difficult to prove. It’s not always easy to prove that you’re experiencing excruciating pain. It’s not always easy to prove that your cognitive functioning has been diminished because of a head injury, for example.
Examples of Life-Altering Injuries
Here are some examples of serious injuries and how these injuries can change your life forever.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs)
Brain injuries are often caused by a traumatic impact to the head. If the impact is severe, you could suffer brain damage as a result. Brain damage can affect your life in many negative ways. The brain damage could be mild, moderate, or severe and could be temporary or permanent.
Brain damage can cause many negative issues for your life. Your personality could be changed. You could suffer from severe mood changes. Your brain trauma could cause you to suffer memory loss. You could deal with issues processing information. Your coordination, mobility, balance, and motor skills could be negatively impacted by a brain injury.
Broken Bones
Broken bone injuries range from minor to severe. Some injuries will heal in time, but some injuries could leave you with permanent issues. Your mobility could be negatively impacted in the short-term by a broken bone. For serious cases, mobility could be negatively affected for life.
In addition, broken bone injuries are painful and can take many months to heal. This injury could prevent you from working, causing you to miss out on income. Your injury could even cause you to lose your job if you are no longer able to perform your work duties as required.
Burn Injuries
When you’ve sustained a burn injury, you will deal with excruciating pain. Depending on the severity of the burn, you could suffer from scarring, disfigurement, and nerve and tissue damage. Burn injuries could cause issues with mobility, and you could suffer from emotional and mental trauma related to your burn injuries, as well.
Damage to Vital Organs
Damage to major organs or body systems can happen in a number of different ways. The seriousness of the damage could be life changing. Your health could be affected by damaged organs.
Spinal Injuries
When you have sustained a spinal injury, you could be dealing with serious pain and mobility loss. Damage to the spine can even lead to partial or total paralysis, meaning huge life changes for you. You might never be able to walk again. You might not be able to work the job you once enjoyed. You might not be able to enjoy activities that once brought great meaning to your life.
Loss of Limb
The loss of a limb is a traumatic injury, and you could suffer for many years to come. Not only will you suffer great physical pain, but also the emotional and mental scars will be tremendous.
For some, the limb loss could lead to chronic pain and enormous life changes. You might not be able to work for some time, if you’re able to return to work at all. There is no question that the loss of a limb could severely limit your mobility.
How Do Your Injuries Affect Your Injury Claim?
As you can see, there are many different types of serious injuries a person can obtain from an accident. Your injuries can affect your lawsuit.
Obviously, minor injuries will tend to mean a less complicated lawsuit. You will likely recover from a minor injury, which means you won’t need as much compensation as if you suffered a serious injury. You could even avoid going to court when filing an injury claim with a lower value.
However, your claim should always take into account all the losses you suffered, such as lost wages, medical costs, pain and suffering, physical therapy, and so on.
When a person suffers a serious injury, that person really needs to receive maximum compensation. They might not be able to return to work, and if so, their settlement should account for the income they will no longer be able to earn.
In addition, serious injuries require expensive medical treatment. Your medical care should be taken into consideration in your claim or lawsuit, including any future medical costs. Some serious injuries require ongoing medical care, sometimes for life. Your claim should cover these expenses.
Those who sustain serious injuries often suffer in nonfinancial ways, as well. You could be suffering from self-esteem issues due to scarring or disfigurement. You could be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brought on by your accident. You might be struggling to find meaning in a life that has now been changed by a catastrophic injury.
It’s your right to seek compensation for a serious injury.
Should You Work with an Attorney?
Although you have the option of filing a personal injury claim on your own, many people choose to work with a Phoenix personal injury lawyer. The personal injury claim process can be long and difficult. You will be required to prove fault and prove the severity of your injuries.
You are already dealing with so much that taking on the battle of a personal injury claim could be too much for you to handle on your own. Additionally, the stakes are high. You might have a better chance to win the compensation you need when you have legal assistance.
An attorney can help you file your claim and will work to see that your injuries are adequately represented in your claim. They will also work to see that the settlement you receive is fair for what you went through and for how your injuries have impacted your life.
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