Motorists in Denver and across the country are always vulnerable to the negligence of others. In many cases, full recovery is possible. However, those who suffer catastrophic injuries have to live with the auto accident consequences for the rest of their lives. One such injury is spinal cord damage that causes paralysis, depending on the location and severity of the damage.
Complete spinal cord injury
Paralysis typically occurs in the part of the body below the location of the spinal cord damage.
Complete spinal cord injuries occur when the nerve damage prevents any messages from below the injury from being transmitted to the brain. It causes total loss of feeling and mobility below the location of the nerve damage.
Incomplete spinal cord injury
This class of injury allows some signals to get to the brain and back. Nerve damage in the spinal cord is partial. Therefore, some movement and feeling remain below the injury level.
Paraplegia
This term refers to the loss of feeling and movement of both legs and the trunk. Paraplegia does not cause paralysis in the arms.
Quadriplegia
Tetraplegia, which is another term for quadriplegia, affects both arms and both legs. It happens when a complete spinal cord injury occurs in the neck area.
Bodily effects
Along with an entirely new lifestyle, spinal cord injury victims might have bowel, sexual and bladder dysfunction. Furthermore, respiratory complications, unstable blood pressure, spasticity, heart problems and chronic pain could develop. Another potential life-threatening risk is Autonomic Dysreflexia, which causes involuntary blood pressure spikes that could result in a stroke.
Legal options
If another party’s negligence caused spinal cord or other catastrophic injuries in Denver car accident victims, they could pursue financial relief by filing a personal injury lawsuit. Their documented claims for adjudication by the cord could include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and other financial and emotional damages.
