Some of the most catastrophic injuries you can experience involve your spinal cord or brain. These can leave you with a variety of health issues, not least of which is a type of paralysis called hemiplegia. Learn more about this injury, what can cause it, and what your legal rights may be. 

What Is Hemiplegia?

Hemiplegia is a symptom of a spinal cord or brain injury that results in the paralysis of half of the body. It can be a temporary or permanent issue that could leave you with the inability to move the muscles in the affected area. You will likely not have any sensation in the area, either. 

It can impact either the left or right side of the body, with the spinal cord being the divider. The paralysis may not be as severe in all areas of the impacted side. That means you could have some movement and sensation on your left arm but not your left leg, for example. 

What Can Cause Hemiplegia?

The most common cause of hemiplegia is accidents. Slip and fall accidents and car crashes involving high speeds can result in the spine twisting unnaturally, discs bulging and damaging nerves, and a variety of other serious injuries. You can also hit your head, resulting in harm to areas of the brain that control motor function. 

If you work with heavy machinery, you can also be struck hard enough to suffer this type of injury. 

In some instances, medical malpractice could be to blame. If a surgeon cut part of your spinal cord during an operation or you fell off a hospital bed because of negligence, you might be facing permanent hemiplegia. 

If you sustained injuries that led to hemiplegia because of another party’s conduct, you may be entitled to begin a personal injury claim to recover your losses. Doing so requires proving the other party owed you a duty of care that they breached and that their misconduct left you with hemiplegia. 

With a personal injury claim, you can recover economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages address medical expenses. These help you cover the costs you incurred because of the injury. You will likely require ongoing care and assistance with mobility as well. All of these costs can be covered via economic damages. 

Economic damages also help with the income you may have lost because of the injury. If you can’t return to work or you have to work in another capacity, you can also receive compensation for your loss of earning potential. 

To address losses that are not as easy to quantify, you can ask for non-economic damages. These focus on compensating you for the physical and emotional distress you’ve experienced. Additionally, you can recover losses due to the inability to live your life as you once did. 

Contact Our Pensacola Personal Injury Lawyers at Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation

Filing a personal injury claim for an injury as serious as hemiplegia is not a simple process. You should not attempt to go through it alone. You run the risk of receiving a settlement that is much smaller than you need. By hiring experienced attorneys, you can fight for fair compensation. 

 If you or a loved one is dealing with hemiplegia after an accident caused by another’s negligence, call our Pensacola personal injury lawyers at Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers. With the right representation, you can receive the support you deserve.

If you’ve been injured in an accident, please contact our experienced personal injury lawyers in Florida at Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today. We have five convenient locations in Pensacola, Navarre, Crestview, Milton, and Mary Esther.

Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers – Pensacola Office
803 N Palafox St
Pensacola, FL 32501
Phone: (850) 434-3333

Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers – Navarre Office
9933 Navarre Pkwy
Navarre, FL 32566
Phone: (850) 757-2898

Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers – Crestview Office
1501 S Ferdon Blvd
Crestview, FL 32536
Phone: (850) 407-7726

Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers – Milton Office
6373 US-90
Milton, FL 32570
Phone: (850) 790-7790

Gross & Schuster Injury Lawyers – Mary Esther Office
151 Mary Esther Blvd Suite 103A
Mary Esther, FL 32569
Phone: (850) 809-0170