When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, the damage can drastically change their lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a TBI as an injury that occurs when someone’s head suffers a jolt or bump that affects the brain. While mild TBIs may result in concussions, severe accidents can result in TBIs that may require extensive hospital care or a lifetime of care.
We understand that it is emotionally difficult to watch your loved one go through a TBI. While you’re trying to get your loved one the best care possible, you’re also coming to terms with what happened to them and searching for answers why. If someone’s negligent actions caused your or your loved one’s TBI, you may have a legal remedy. The Peru brain injury lawyers from Schweickert Ganassin Krzak Rundio, LLP can you assist you in seeking the justice you and your loved one deserve.
You may benefit from knowing more about traumatic brain injuries. Let’s look into how common TBIs are, what causes them, and their consequences.
TBI Facts and Statistics
Brain injuries can have differing levels of severity, but even a minor head injury requires medical attention. Many trips to medical centers relate to head injury. This data from 2014 demonstrates how prevalent brain injuries are in the U.S.
- About 155 people lost their lives per day from having a TBI and other injuries.
- TBIs caused 2.87 million emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths.
- About 288,000 people in hospitals had a TBI diagnosis.
When someone suffers from a head injury, the family may have many questions regarding the accident. You want to know how and why your loved one was injured but are having difficulty getting answers.
Our Illinois attorneys will thoroughly investigate your loved one’s case, including piecing together the events that led to their injury. We’ll hire experts to go to the scene of the accident to find any physical evidence and speak to any eyewitnesses that can provide more information. We will collect all of the necessary data to prove your case. You can rest assured that we’ll look into every aspect of your loved one’s case so we can discover who was responsible for their injury.
How Do Traumatic Brain Injuries Happen?
Brain injuries can occur in accidents where someone acted negligently. Our firm in Peru, Illinois has dealt with many cases involving traumatic brain injury. Here are some of the most common reasons TBIs occur:
Motor vehicle accidents are a major cause of TBIs. The impact of the crash can cause the motorist’s head to jolt back and forth, hit their head against the window, or an object could penetrate their skull. Often, these types of accidents are preventable. Motor vehicle accidents can happen because of a distracted driver, an aggressive driver, an overtired driver, or an intoxicated driver.
Workplace negligence can also lead to brain injuries. While those who work in an office may be less likely to sustain a TBI, those who work in construction have a higher chance of getting hurt in an accident. Objects may fall and strike a construction worker’s head—the second leading cause of emergency room visits for TBI was objects hitting a person’s head in 2014. Construction workers often use ladders or work on scaffolding, so falling from heights is another risk.
It’s true that construction workers do work in more dangerous environments than others, but this doesn’t mean that injuries are unavoidable. Safety protocols and procedures are supposed to be in place to protect the workers. If a supervisor or a third-party on a construction site exhibits negligence, they put other workers at risk.
What Are the Symptoms of a TBI?
After an accident, there are a number of symptoms that indicate a TBI and can also give information about the severity. For example, one who has a mild TBI could have any of the following symptoms:
- Headache
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Blurry vision
- Feeling tired or experiencing a change in their sleep habits
- Trouble concentrating
- Light and sound sensitivity
When the brain injury is worse, the symptoms are a bit different:
- Constant headache or headache that worsens
- Slurred speech
- Seizures
- Inability to wake up
- Feeling tingling or numbness in limbs
- Loss of consciousness
- Constant nausea or vomiting
It’s imperative to see a doctor if someone exhibits any of these symptoms. The doctor will be able to evaluate the injury and begin treatment. Copies of the evaluation and medical records will also help your Illinois lawyers demonstrate the extent of the injury, which can be beneficial in the claims process.
However, a full recovery isn’t always guaranteed. Let’s look into the long-term consequences of a TBI.
TBIs Can Cause Permanent Damage
When an injury prevents someone from returning to work and they can no longer be gainfully employed, it is called a catastrophic injury. Catastrophic head injuries can lead to severe health complications and have long-term effects. Someone who has had a TBI may have trouble with the following areas:
- Cognition. A brain injury can disrupt a person’s ability to remember, learn something new, and may inhibit their ability to make decisions or use reasoning.
- Senses. The person could have issues with vision, smell, sight, taste, and their balance could be affected.
- Speaking. A person’s ability to speak, understand what others are saying, and express themselves may be affected by a TBI.
- Mental Health. When someone has a devastating injury, they may show changes to their personality, seem more irritable, or develop mental illness like depression or anxiety.
The recovery process will most likely involve continued medical care, rehabilitation, and perhaps psychological treatment. Some may need in-home care or the use of medical devices in order to maintain a high quality of life. When these expenses add up, they can seem overwhelming. That’s where we step in.
Our brain injury attorneys in Peru will do everything we can to get you and your loved one full and fair compensation for their injuries. This sum will help cover medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of a normal life.
Unfortunately, TBIs can also be fatal. If your loved one passed away because of a TBI injury, our wrongful death attorneys may be able to help you. Holding the right people accountable for their actions and getting financial peace of mind could assist you though the grieving process.
Getting the Help You Need
If you or your loved one was wrongfully injured because of someone’s actions, there is a way to get justice. Our lawyers in Illinois have experience and skill in TBI cases. We can explain each step of the process so you understand what’s happening with your case and why.
Our attorneys will fight on your or your loved one’s behalf and do everything to get full and fair compensation through a jury trial or settlement. To get started on your case, give our firm a call today. We’ll discuss your options and you can choose the best course of action for you.
