The spinal cord runs from the brain stem down to the tailbone through the center of the spine’s vertebrae, and every nerve ending in the body extends outward from this central neurological pathway. This part of the body is essential to virtually every bodily function, so any accident that results in spinal cord damage can cause significant injury and, unfortunately, often permanent loss of sensation and motor control.
If you sustained trauma of this unique nature due to another person’s reckless or careless actions, your journey towards civil recovery will be substantially different from what a less severe injury might warrant. This makes it all the more important to have help along the way from a dependable catastrophic injury attorney. A New Braunfels spinal cord injury lawyer from Dennis Injury Law has the experience achieving good results in similar cases.
Something that makes spinal cord injury lawsuits unique is just how much the goals of such a claim can change based on the nature and severity of the plaintiff’s specific injury. Complete spinal cord injuries involve the spinal cord being completely severed at the injury site and cause irreversible total paralysis. In comparison, incomplete spinal cord injuries may not require as much of a focus on lifelong harm, may be treatable with modern medical intervention, and offer some prospects for long-term recovery.
As an attorney from our New Braunfels team can further explain, the location of an injury on the spinal cord can significantly affect the physical, financial, and psychological consequences of that injury. For instance, injuries lower down the spine may only cause paraplegia in the lower limbs, and injuries closer to the neck can cause quadriplegia of all four limbs as well as the entire torso below the neck.
If a spinal cord injury does cause permanent and debilitating harm, that does not change the statutory filing time limits applicable to the injured party. As per Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003, a typical personal injury plaintiff has just two years to file suit after initially sustaining physical trauma through someone else’s misconduct, regardless of what effects that trauma has on them.
The deadline set by this statute of limitations can sometimes be extended, or tolled, to account for unique circumstances that prevented you from building a reasonably comprehensive claim within the original time limit. In general, this is a hard limit that courts will strictly enforce, so contacting our team of New Braunfels legal professionals as soon as possible after your spinal cord injury accident can make a big difference to the success of your case.
Sustaining spinal cord trauma is invariably a life-changing experience, but you do not have to accept those changes as a product of bad luck. If you can prove that another person’s misconduct was the main and direct cause of your spinal cord injury, you can demand compensation from them for the negative impacts your injury will have on your life, including medical bills, lost working capacity, physical and psychological suffering, and more.
By working with a New Braunfels spinal cord injury lawyer from Dennis Injury Law, you can significantly improve your chances of securing the restitution you deserve. Contact our team today to schedule an initial consultation.