Charlotte Quadriplegia and Tetraplegia Lawyers

As many as 358,000 people in the United States live with a spinal cord injury. Of those who suffer from a spinal injury, nearly 41% suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury. Quadriplegia or tetraplegia is a medical condition that is commonly caused by a serious accident resulting in a spinal cord injury. Quadriplegia can sometimes be called tetraplegia. Nearly 16% of spinal cord accident victims suffer an injury that results in complete quadriplegia.

Accidents at work, slip and fall accidents, and accidents on another person's property can result in an injury that leads to quadriplegia and tetraplegia. If you or a family member have been diagnosed with quadriplegia or tetraplegia in Charlotte, as a result of a traumatic accident you may be entitled to compensation. You may have a workers' compensation or personal injury claims for your injuries. Contact Arnold & Smith, PLLC as soon as possible to schedule your initial consultation with experienced personal injury lawyers.

Quadriplegia is a medical condition that results in a person's inability to voluntarily move both the upper and lower body parts. When a person suffers from quadriplegia, he or she is unable to move the arms, hands, fingers, chest, legs, feet, and toes. Some, but not all individuals with quadriplegia are unable to move their head, neck, and shoulders.

Spinal cord injuries cause quadriplegia. A spinal cord injury occurs when damage to the spinal cord results in a loss of movement, function or feeling. The higher up the damage is to the spinal cord, the greater the effect on the body. In other words, the closer the spinal cord injury is to the brain, the more the body will become negatively impacted. Typically, any spinal cord injury between the C1 vertebrae and the T1 vertebrae results in quadriplegia.

Tetraplegia involves damage to the cervical area (C1-C8). In a tetraplegic injury, the victim will experience total or partial sensory loss and motor loss of all four limbs and the torso. Specifically, the paralysis is from the neck down. These injuries often cause respiratory deficiency. Approximately 230,000 people in the United States receive injuries causing tetraplegia or quadriplegia every year.

Treating quadriplegia is often quite complicated and involves many different medical professionals. Most individuals who suffer a quadriplegia injury need treatment from an extensive medical team. Medical professionals often focus on creating "functional goals" for individuals with quadriplegia. These functional goals are typically small goals that may take significant time to achieve. Doctors might focus on someone's ability to move a single finger, for example.

For patients who are reliant on using a motorized wheelchair, doctors and physical therapists might focus on helping them learn to use their wheelchair with their heads. Quadriplegic injuries are always life-altering events. These injuries often require expensive, lengthy and difficult recoveries that last decades or the rest of a person's life.

In addition to extensive and expensive medical care, those with quadriplegia injuries will also require part-time or full-time live-in care. Indeed, the lifetime costs of a quadriplegic patient who becomes injured in his or her 20s can average $4 million.

Nearly any serious spinal cord injury can cause quadriplegia or tetraplegia. Every year, there are 12,500 new cases of spinal cord injuries every year. The following are common causes of spinal cord injuries in North Carolina:

• Car accidents (37%)
• Slip and Falls (30%)
• Violence (28%)
• Gunshots (14%)
• Recreational activities and sports (9%)
• Medical and surgical accidents (4%)

If you or a loved one was injured in an accident and has suffered quadriplegia or tetraplegia as a result, you may have a right to compensation. Car accidents are the leading cause of quadriplegia and tetraplegia. Under North Carolina personal injury law, drivers whose negligence causes personal injuries can be held financially responsible for the injuries caused by their negligence.

Those who suffer an injury at work may also be able to file a North Carolina workers' compensation claim to recover compensation for their losses and injuries. You do not need to prove that anyone was at fault in a workers' compensation claim.

At Arnold & Smith, PLLC, we have a proven track record of helping those who have suffered quadriplegia and tetraplegia recover compensation. Contact our skilled Charlotte personal injury lawyers today to schedule your initial consultation.