Florida Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

The spinal cord is your body’s link between the brain and the body. The vertebrae of the spinal column protect it. Spinal cord injuries are among the most traumatic a person can suffer.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the result of damage to the vertebrae, spinal column disks, ligaments or the spinal cord itself. Injury victims lose some level of function in one or more limbs or in larger portions of their body. More severe spinal cord injuries result in paralysis. Even less severe injuries can lead to chronic pain and significantly reduced quality of life.

The National SCI Statistical Center (NSCISC) estimates that about 302,000 people in the US are living with a spinal cord injury as of 2022, and that 18,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries occur annually. Various medical and research organizations list motor vehicle accidents, falling accidents, violence, and sports accidents as the leading causes of SCI. If another person’s negligence has caused a spinal cord injury, they can be held accountable for the injured party’s pain and suffering and financial losses.

Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, helps spinal cord injury victims injured in slip-and-fall accidents, car crashes and other accidents in locations across South Florida and the Treasure Coast, including Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, Palm Beach and Vero Beach. For a free consultation, call us today at our toll-free number or use our online contact form.

Common Spinal Cord Injuries

The Mayo Clinic defines spinal cord injury as damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal. The injury often causes permanent damage to the victim’s strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury.

The severity of a spinal cord injury is described in terms of its “completeness.” A spinal cord injury is either:

• Complete, which means almost all feeling (sensory function) and ability to control movement (motor function) below the site of the spinal cord injury are lost.

• Incomplete, meaning some motor or sensory function below the area affected by the spinal cord injury is lost, but an appreciable amount remains. The degree of incomplete spinal cord injuries varies.

Paralysis, or the inability to move parts of the body, including organs, is called “paraplegia” if it affects the lower half of the body. Paralysis of body parts below the neck, including both arms and legs, is called “quadriplegia” or “tetraplegia.”

Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injury

The National SCI Statistical Center (NSCISC), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other research bodies agree on the most frequent causes of spinal cord injury:  

• Car and motorcycle accidents – As of 2022, vehicular accidents account for 37.6 percent of spinal cord injuries, says the NSCISC.

• Falls – Falling incidents resulted in 31.5 percent of spinal cord injury cases, according to NSCISC data from 2015 to 2022. And according to the CDC, one of every five falls result in serious injury.

• Violence – Some 15.4 percent of spinal cord injuries in the US are from acts of violence, primarily gunshot wounds, says the NSCISC. The Mayo Clinic adds that knife wounds are also common.

• Sports – NSCISC data shows that physical sports caused 8.3 percent of SCI cases since 2015.

Beyond the physical problems caused by spinal cord injury, long and difficult recoveries lead to high medical expenses and additional costs, including temporary or permanent loss of the ability to work for a living.

Moderate SCI may be resolved with medication and physical therapy. Patients with complete spinal cord injuries will likely require ongoing medication and physical therapy, plus personal assistive devices and/or in-home care. Families of those with severe spinal injuries may need to renovate their homes for wheelchair-bound or bed-ridden SCI patients.

Contact a Florida Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Today

A Florida spinal cord injury victim who was not at fault for an accident that caused their injury has a right to seek money for their pain and suffering, medical expenses and other losses. If you or a loved one has suffered SCI, or you have lost a family member after an accident that resulted in SCI, Florida spinal cord injury lawyer Philip DeBerard is on your side.

From our office in Stuart, Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, has obtained millions of dollars in compensation for accident victims throughout South Florida and have offices in Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Okeechobee, Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach.

Schedule a free consultation about your case today by calling us at our toll-free number or completing our online contact form. We can get started on your case right away.