No Two Traumatic Brain Injuries Are The Same
Jul 19, 2013
Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) July 18, 2013 – Traumatic brain injury is often hard to define, as each case is different.
Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP
“Brain injuries are much like whiplash, they are silent, unseen and people don’t understand what they mean or know how to deal with the consequences of a head injury,” said Austin injury lawyer Brooks Schuelke, with Perlmutter & Schuelke, L.L.P.
Consider the 1984 case that launched a brain injury coalition. A 15-year-old boy was on his way home from football and was struck by a car. He suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and now requires around-the-clock care. He cannot speak or walk. During the years of caring for their son, the coalition’s founders discovered that no two cases of TBI are the same. They may range from mild to moderate and from severe to debilitating. Everyone affected by head trauma responds differently as different neurons may have been damaged inside their brains.
“TBI is the result of an outside force buffeting the head, whether it is due to a fall and the head striking the ground or concussive waves from an explosion. The more severe the injury, the harder it is for the brain to send messages that make sense to the person’s body,” Schuelke explained.
TBI may affect the personality, cause changes in behavior, affect motor skills, reading skills, the ability to write, think or speak normally. Judgment, memory and perceptions are skewed. “For some victims the problems they experience may only last a few months to years. For others, it is a life-altering albatross,” said Schuelke. Statistically speaking, TBI is the leading cause of death and disability for people under the age of 45. Over two million Americans sustain brain injury in one form or another every year. There is one traumatic brain injury every 15 seconds.
Treating TBI is a $30 billion dollar commitment every year —- a cost that includes rehabilitation, medications, cognitive therapy and other therapies design to help a brain trauma patient cope with their injury. Each form of therapy is different, as each patient needs something unique to help them make sense of their life as it is now.
“People who have been diagnosed with TBI as a result of an accident where negligence was the precipitating cause, need to contact an experienced injury lawyer for help. They will need compensation to pay the enormous bills that accrue caring for a TBI patient,” indicated Schuelke.
To learn more or to contact an Austin personal injury attorney or Austin injury lawyer, visit http://www.civtrial.com.
Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP
206 East 9th Street, Ste. 1511
Austin, TX 78701
Call (512) 476-4944
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