A catastrophic injury is an injury that changes your life. The injury can force you to face lifelong physical challenges and devastating financial consequences. If someone else was responsible for your accident and catastrophic injuries, you may be eligible for substantial compensation to cover your long-term needs.
You don’t need to handle a complex legal claim on your own. Pursuing a Denver catastrophic injury claim is challenging because the stakes are high. It’s important that you have a skilled legal team on your side who can build a solid case for the full financial reward you need to move forward.
At Olson Personal Injury Lawyers, our attorneys for car accidents in Denver are ready to work vigorously and relentlessly to seek compensation for your long-term medical care, rehabilitation, lost income, pain and suffering, and other harms.
We understand the hardship you’re facing as a result of your injuries. Our award-winning legal team at Olson Personal Injury Lawyers in Denver is ready to help. We have the resources, skills, and drive to take on the at-fault party’s insurance company and win.
At Olson Personal Injury Lawyers, we put every client first, every day. That means we do whatever we can to take the work and complication of a personal injury claim off your plate so that you can concentrate on your health, your family, and your road to recovery. We treat every client as though they are family, and every injury as if it were our own.
Contact us today for a free case review or schedule a virtual consultation. Even if you choose not to hire us to help, we’ll be happy to arm you with information to fight for your rights and win.
What Makes an Injury ‘Catastrophic’?
A catastrophic injury is an injury so serious that it leaves the victim with permanent or long-lasting damage that can prevent the victim from returning to work, maintaining personal and family relationships, and completing daily tasks. Catastrophic injuries often result from damage to the brain or spinal cord, which can reduce functional capacities.
People who suffer a catastrophic injury often face a lifetime of medical care, rehabilitation, and permanent disability.
In general, there are three types of catastrophic injuries:
- Physical injuries – These include amputation, severe fractures, burns, and other damage to function or tissue that results in permanent disability.
- Spinal cord injuries – These injuries can result in permanent mobility issues, including paralysis.
- Cognitive injuries – These injuries are the result of brain damage and can prevent an individual from working, speaking, comprehending the world around them, and forming new memories.
Types of Catastrophic Injuries in Denver
Any injury that causes permanent, disabling damage may be considered catastrophic. Some of the most common catastrophic injuries in Denver include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Head injuries
- Burns
- Nerve damage
- Paralysis
- Electrocution
- Amputation
- Herniated disc
- Neck injuries
- Organ damage
- Birth injuries
- Wrongful death
If you have suffered an injury that has prevented you from working and resulted in a permanent disability, contact a personal injury attorney today to discuss your options for accessing compensation.
Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries in Denver
There are many types of disastrous accidents that can have catastrophic consequences. Some of the common causes of catastrophic injuries in Denver include:
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Aviation accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Construction accidents
- Sports accidents
- Boating accidents
- Violent crime
- Dog attack
- Defective or dangerous products
- Fires
- Medical malpractice
How to Prove Liability in a Denver Catastrophic Injury Case
In order to prove that someone else was responsible, or liable, for your injuries, you must first gather comprehensive and compelling evidence that the at-fault party was negligent, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent causing harm.
The legal team at Olson Personal Injury Lawyers is prepared to thoroughly investigate your case and gather the evidence needed to win. For example, if you were injured in a truck accident caused by the truck driver, we may investigate the accident scene and request that the trucking company preserves crucial evidence, such as the truck driver’s logbook, driving history, truck inspection and maintenance records, data from the truck’s black box recorder, and more.
If you were injured in a slip and fall caused by a spill at a grocery store, we may interview witnesses and employees, check the security footage, and gather testimony from a medical expert about the extent of your injuries.
The evidence we gather will be specific to the type of accident in which you were involved. The following are some of the types of evidence we might seek in your case:
- Comprehensive medical records
- Photographs or videos of the accident scene and injuries
- Footage from security cameras or traffic cameras
- Cell phone and texting records
- Statements from eyewitnesses and expert witnesses
- Statements from accident reconstruction experts
- Statements from architects and engineers
- City citations for building safety
- Maintenance records, such as a vehicle’s maintenance history
- Safety inspection records, such as a store’s schedule of inspections
- Defective product or part, such as a defective tire
- “Black box” recorders or in-vehicle cameras
- Clothing and shoes you wore at the time of the accident
Types of Compensation for a Catastrophic Injury
Individuals who suffer catastrophic injuries are usually eligible to ask for compensation for medical bills, lost wages, disfigurement, and pain and suffering.
Medical expenses
Medical bills might include the cost of:
- Ambulance transportation
- Emergency room services
- Hospital stay
- ICU stay
- Prescriptions
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Transportation to medical appointments
- Caretaking
If you have been injured in an accident, it’s essential to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Most catastrophic injuries occur as the result of a traumatic accident. In the aftermath of such an accident, many injured individuals experience a massive rush of adrenaline that physiologically inhibits pain receptors. This means that you could be severely injured and not even feel pain. Sometimes the pain does not become evident for hours or even days after the accident.
Some victims who suffer traumatic brain injuries do not immediately present symptoms. Sometimes they experience confusion that makes them unaware of their injury. Individuals with traumatic brain injuries have walked away from an accident thinking they were uninjured, only to begin to suffer severe symptoms or even die hours or days later. A doctor should evaluate you for symptoms that you may be unable to detect.
In addition to being essential for your long-term health, prompt medical care is also important for your ability to make a legal claim for compensation. If you delay care, the at-fault party may argue that your condition is not as severe as you claim it is now because you didn’t even think it necessary to seek medical care. They may also argue that you aggravated your condition by delaying care, or even that it is impossible to determine whether your injuries actually came from the accident. Delaying medical care can reduce the amount of money the at-fault party has to pay you. It could result in no compensation at all.
Lost wages
Catastrophic injuries often prevent an individual from returning to work. The at-fault party may be required to compensate you for your current and future lost wages.
Disfigurement
Often catastrophic injuries will result in bodily disfigurement – scarring, loss of limbs or other body parts, and loss of use of body parts. Those injuries are compensable under Colorado law and are not subject to the caps that pain and suffering claims are.
Pain and suffering
Victims who suffer catastrophic injuries may be eligible for compensation for pain and suffering. Since pain and suffering is subjective, assigning an exact dollar figure to these losses is less straightforward than it is for other losses, like medical bills. However, these losses are just as real – and just as compensable.
In order to help an insurance adjuster or court understand the impact of your injuries, it is advisable to keep a journal to document how your injuries affect your daily life. Write down the day and time whenever you experience pain or are unable to complete daily tasks. A family member or caretaker may help you with recording in your journal, especially if you are suffering from cognitive issues.
Contact a Denver Catastrophic Injury Attorney Today
At Olson Personal Injury Lawyers, we understand the devastating impact that a catastrophic injury has on the life of a victim and his or her family. For many injury victims, the additional financial pressure of massive medical bills creates stress that becomes a serious roadblock to healing. The experienced legal team from Olson Personal Injury Lawyers is prepared to use every legal tool available to help you access the compensation you need live the rest of your life.
Contact us today for a free and confidential case review. Tell us about your case, ask us questions. We will be ready to discuss the facts of your case so that you can learn about your legal options and your path forward. You may also click here to download Sean Olson’s book, Results Matter. Results Matter will provide you with a roadmap of what your personal injury case may look like going forward.