Accidents rarely happen without someone else causing them. Behind just about every accident there is a human factor. If you have been careless yourself, there is no-one else to blame and you have to face the consequences, but what if someone else was to blame? What if you slipped over and ended up injuring your back badly?
You will probably need some sort of medical treatment and it could end up costing you much more than you can afford. If you can prove who was responsible for your injuries then you may be able to claim compensation from them. A personal injury attorney can help you decide if a claim is possible and then help pursue the claim on your behalf.
How do Most Accidental Back Injuries Happen?
Back injuries vary enormously from minor temporary pain to chronic and severe pain that can last the rest of your life. The reason why back injuries can be so severe is the nature of the spine itself. It is composed of a number of interconnecting bones, the vertebrae. Each bone is connected to the bones on each side by a flexible joint.
Within the spine lies the spinal cord, a bundle of nerve fibers that carry messages to and from the different parts of the body and the brain. An accident can damage the bones themselves, the joints, the nerves within the spinal cord or a combination of all of these.
The most common types of accidents that lead to back injuries are:
- slipping or tripping over;
- falling from a height;
- handling or lifting something awkwardly or an object that is too heavy;
- handling or using a defective product;
- motor vehicle accidents, especially rear-ended collisions.
Unexpected Back Injuries Can be an Unwanted Expense
Imagine you have slipped over on a slippery surface in a grocery store. Maybe the floor had just been cleaned, but the person who did the cleaning forgot to put a warning notice up. You weren’t expecting the floor to be slippery and ended up on your back. You then spend a couple of weeks in hospital and two months of work recovering.
You may have a bill from the hospital which you weren’t insured for and could end up losing several weeks wages, possibly your job. In this situation, you may be able to claim compensation from the store owner if you are able to prove that the accident was their fault and not yours.
Professional Legal Help Can Make a Claim Easier
It’s possible to go ahead all by yourself and hope that the store owner or the manager is sympathetic to your injuries. However, it’s unlikely they will hand over enough cash to cover all your anticipated expenses without persuasion. Quite often, it’s the insurance company that is reluctant to admit any fault on the part of their client and they may even blame you for not being careful enough.
If you have had a serious back injury, you owe it to yourself and your family to get professional legal help. Contact a personal injury attorney with experience in back injuries as soon as you can. They will have handled cases like yours many times before and can help make a potential claim successful.
