Brooklyn Car Accident Amputation Lawyer

The most horrific Brooklyn car crashes end in serious, permanent and debilitating injuries; some even result in death. While some accidents are just that — accidents — many of them are completely preventable. Car accidents that are caused by someone’s negligence, carelessness or bad behavior on the roads make up a significant portion of New York’s annual crashes.

Amputation in a Car Accident

An amputation is the removal of a body extremity. Any extremity is vulnerable to amputation after a car crash, particularly because the trauma can be so severe. Arms, legs, fingers and toes, and hands and feet can be irreparably damaged during an accident.

The loss of a limb is never easy to deal with, but with the right medical care, you may be able to resume your usual daily activities. However, medical care isn’t free. Many people who have suffered the loss of a limb during or after a car crash have a difficult time paying their bills because of insurance company caps, uncovered care and several other factors.

There are two types of amputation that result from car accidents: surgical and traumatic. Both are equally serious, but the methods of arriving there are different.

Surgical Amputations After a Car Accident

When a body part has been severely damaged during an accident, and the damage is so extensive that the part cannot be saved (or that saving the part would be more harmful than removing it), physicians and surgeons may choose to amputate it. Even when the damage from the accident is not extensive, an infection can render the limb useless or make it impossible to save.

Traumatic Amputations During a Car Accident

When a body part is torn off or severed during a car accident, doctors consider it a traumatic amputation. That is not to say that a surgical amputation is not traumatic; it’s just a medical term that physicians and surgeons use to describe the circumstances surrounding the amputation.

In some cases, surgeons are able to reattach severed extremities. However, it is a long and difficult process that may result in infection or the eventual loss of the limb.

Generally, traumatic amputations that occur during car accidents put the victim at risk of severe bleeding, shock and infection. All of those conditions are life threatening.

Types of Accidents That Cause Loss of Limb and Amputation

You don’t necessarily have to be in a car to have an accident traumatic enough to cost you your limb. Motorcycle crashes can easily result in amputation, as can pedestrian accidents.

Other accidents that frequently lead to amputation include those involving:

• All-terrain vehicles, or ATVs
• Boats
• Buses
• Mopeds
• Motor homes
• Recreational vehicles
• Trucks
• Vans

Virtually any motorized vehicle can be in an accident that results in a victim’s loss of limb.

Compensation for Amputated Arm or Leg

Many people use prosthetic devices to replace severed limbs. However, like other aspects of medical care, prosthetics cost money—and if you are out of work because of your injuries, finding the cash to pay for an artificial limb can be extremely difficult.

Working with a Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyer After an Amputation

Most people who have suffered an amputation during a car accident find that it’s in their best interests to talk to a Brooklyn car accident lawyer who will make hospital visits and house calls.

It’s a good idea to talk to an attorney to help determine whether you might be eligible for compensation from the at-fault party. You certainly deserve justice, and you deserve the financial help that you need to cover things such as:

• You may lose a significant amount of mobility because of your amputation.
• An amputation can significantly altered your appearance, causing you discomfort and emotional distress.
• Emotional distress. Most victims of car accident-related amputation suffer extreme emotional distress during and long after the crash, including post-traumatic stress injury.
• Loss of quality of life. Many people report changed circumstances after an amputation, and those changes can degrade your quality of life.
• Lost earning capacity. You may be forced to switch careers, or you may be restricted to such limitations that prevent you from working at all.
• Lost wages. Your amputation may make it difficult or impossible to continue working while you recover.
• Medical expenses. In addition to hospital bills, you will likely need to come up with the money to pay for prosthetic devices, future medical care and medications.
• Pain and suffering. Any car accident can result in pain and suffering, and this can be amplified in the case of an amputation. You can suffer broken and fractured bones after a traumatic car accident.

You may accrue several other expenses as a direct result of your injury. People who become confined to wheelchairs often need to purchase special vehicles capable of carrying them; those who need to use braces, special seats and other medical devices will eventually need to pay for replacements.

The bottom line is that it’s a good idea to talk to a personal injury lawyer who focuses on loss of limb cases. You may be entitled to compensation from the at-fault party and his or her insurance company.

To speak with a Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyer, call 718-448-1600.
We’re here for you when you’re ready.