One of the most severe injuries that someone can suffer in a car accident is a spinal cord injury or an SCI. Every year, reports indicate that there are about 12,000 of these injuries, although they certainly do not only occur in car accidents.
The symptoms can be very severe, such as an absolute lack of movement and sensation. Some people will simply suffer a partial loss of function, but a severe spinal cord injury can lead to a complete lack of function. Additionally, although medical treatments are always improving, there is often no ability for a full recovery. The spinal cord isn’t going to heal in the same way that a broken bone would, for instance.
The loss of sensation is below the level of the injury
The reason that the location matters so much is that the injury severs the connections between the brain and the area below that injury. Two of the most common areas where these injuries occur are the thoracic area in the cervical area.
For instance, someone who suffers a spinal cord injury near their waist may lose mobility in their legs, but they will still retain all sensation and function in their arms, neck and head. But someone who has the exact same injury at a much higher level, such as at the level of their neck, could lose almost all function and motor skills that they had previously. In this way, the level at which the injury occurs dictates the types of limitations they’re going to face for the rest of their life.
Those who have suffered from these severe injuries need to make sure that they know about all of the legal options they have to seek compensation when someone else was responsible.