When you sustain an injury due to negligence, you want to know what happened and how you can pursue compensation for your recovery. This is especially important with a spinal cord injury, as quick attention and surgery may help lower the risk of permanent paralysis.
Regardless of whether your SCI is complete or incomplete, knowing what lies ahead of you may help you adjust to a long-term recovery or a longer-term disability.
The stats behind SCI causes
As the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center details, motor vehicle accidents make up the majority of SCI cases in the United States at around 38.6%. Slips and falls serve as a close second with 32.2%. The remaining causes include violence, sports-related injuries and medical or surgical malpractice.
The stats behind SCI costs
The health care costs of your SCI depend on its severity and most of the financial burden happens in the first year due to surgery, hospital stays and rehabilitation. Losing any motor function racks up an average of $375,196 in the first year, with a lifetime cost of around $1.7 million. An SCI resulting in high tetraplegia averages $1.14 million in the first year with a lifetime cost estimated at $5.1 million. These lifetime costs assume an SCI at 25 years old.
The compensation you need
These numbers may seem daunting, but there are options for recovering those costs when your case involves negligence. Whether you suffered a motor vehicle accident or had a bad fall at the factory, it is important to know more about your situation and strategies for recovering — both physically and financially.