Windsor Spinal Cord Injury
There are few injuries as traumatic and life-changing as a spinal cord injury. Partial or complete paralysis can not only devastate the victim’s life, but also the lives of family and community members. If someone else’s negligence caused you to sustain a spinal cord injury, our Windsor personal injury lawyers may be able to help you recover compensation. To learn more, book a free initial consultation with Preszler Injury Lawyers by calling 1-800-JUSTICE.
Complete vs. Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries
There are two types of spinal cord injuries — complete and incomplete.
- An incomplete spinal cord injury occurs when there is some function below the injury site. As such, the victim may have the ability to move one arm or hand but not the other or feel body parts that cannot be moved.
- A complete spinal cord injury has occurred when there is no sensation or ability to voluntarily move body parts below the level of injury, and both sides of the body are affected equally.
THE SEVERITY OF SPINAL CORD INJURIES
The spinal cord is a tube of nervous tissue, roughly 45 centimeters long, that sits within the bony spinal column, according to Dartmouth.edu. This nerve bundle sends information from the brain to the rest of the body. The spinal cord extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem down to the lumbar of the vertebral column, also called the spinal column. In a car crash or slip and fall accident, a broken back or neck may also result in spinal cord damage, caused by the bony spinal column severing the nerves of the spinal cord. The location of the victim’s impaired function depends on where the injury in the spinal cord occurs. The higher up the injury on the spinal cord, the more serious the level of impairment. High cervical spine nerves are C1 to C4. Damage to these nerves can cause the following in victims:
- Inability to breathe, cough, or control bowels or bladder on their own
- Impaired ability to speak
- Paralysis of the legs, torso, hands, and arms
- 24-hour care is needed
Injury to C5:
- Quadriplegia
- The victim will need a powered wheelchair
- Inability to move arms or bend elbows
- Paralysis of the legs, torso, wrists, and hands
- Speaking and breathing will be weakened
Injury to C6:
- Quadriplegia
- Wrist extension impaired but should able to bend the wrist backward
- Paralyzed hands, torso, and legs
- Potential ability to drive an adapted vehicle
- Cannot control bowel or bladder, or control is limited
Injury to C7:
- Quadriplegia
- Likely ability to straighten arms and move shoulders
- Can do most activities by themselves but will need assistance with others
- Potential ability to drive an adapted vehicle
- Cannot control bowel or bladder, or control is limited
Injury to C8:
- Quadriplegia
- Some hand movement and ability to grasp and release objects
- Can do most activities by themselves but will need assistance with others
- Potential ability to drive an adapted vehicle
- Cannot control bowel or bladder, or control is limited
Thoracic injuries to T1-T5
- Impairment to the upper chest, mid-back, and abdominals
- Arm and hand function is typically fine
- Paraplegia instead of quadriplegia
- Ability to use a manual wheelchair
- Ability to drive a modified car
- Ability to stand with a frame or use braces for walking
Thoracic injuries to T6-T12
- Impairment to the abdominals
- Paraplegia is common
- Upper body movement is normal
- Ability to control trunk in a seated position
- Little to no bowel or bladder control
- Some will have the ability to walk with braces
There Is No Cure for Spinal Cord Injuries
Unfortunately, there is no known cure for spinal cord injuries. However, in the days and weeks following the injury, the victim will experience a great deal of swelling around the injury site, potentially causing loss of motor function and sensation below the injury. This loss of sensation and function may end up being temporary because as the swelling goes down, the function may return. In fact, function may continue to return up to 18 months after the injury. After this period, it is unlikely that additional recovery will occur. As such, rushing to settle with an insurer over a spinal cord injury is not wise. Doctors may be able to make predictions, but no one truly knows what type of mobility an incomplete spinal cord injury patient will have in a year.
Additionally, the vast majority of people who suffer incomplete spinal cord injuries never fully recover. There is almost always some loss of mobility or sensation below the injury site. As such, it can be expected that spinal cord injury patients will always live with some degree of disability. While researchers are experimenting with new technologies and methods, such as stem cells, unfortunately, the only improvements that incomplete spinal cord injury victims can rely on is their own body’s ability to reduce swelling in the first year and a half. For those who suffer complete spinal cord injuries, regaining any feeling or mobility below the injury site is impossible.
CONTACT PRESZLER INJURY LAWYERS
By working with our Windsor personal injury lawyers, accident victims who sustained spinal cord injuries as the result of someone else’s negligence may be able to recover compensation for damages they have incurred, as well as monetary losses they might incur in the future. To learn more, book a free initial consultation with our personal injury lawyers serving Windsor by calling 1-800-JUSTICE.
