A common quote for mothers-to-be is, “I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl as long as it has all of its fingers and toes.” Even the smallest appendage such as a finger is counted as making a person whole. So it’s no wonder that when someone loses a body part to amputation a terrible physical and psychological toll is taken. Although it’s not pleasant to think about losing a finger, hand, foot or toe to amputation it does happen. There are nearly 2 million people living with limb loss in the United States. Approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year and 45% of those come from some sort of trauma.
So where do these accidents happen? The answer is that they can happen anywhere. We have had the experience of representing clients that have suffered an amputation accident at a place of work, accidents in a railroad yard, and cases that have also involved paralyzing/paralysis injuries as well as quadriplegia or paraplegia from car accident injuries.
Our firm, Shapiro & Appleton and Favaloro represented a worker who had his hand mangled and later needed to have his thumb amputated because a trailer slipped off of a jack while he was working around the equipment. When he came to our firm he was unable to do perform the work that he had once done. Coping with traumatic injury is a long-term process, in which the survivor and their loved ones learn to function, and ideally accept their new circumstances.
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So what do amputation injury attorneys bring to the table? The following are just a few things that have to be considered when going to court for an amputation injury:
· Medical Drawings and Illustrations of the amputated body part
·Psychological/Mental Anguish Issues
·Career/Job/Vocational Evidence
·Costs of Future Medical Expenses and Surgeries:
Remember prosthesis are very expensive, an upper extremity device (arm or hand) can range from $3,000.00 to $30,000.
The bottom line is that no amount of money can bring back an amputated leg, foot or arm. But it may be possible to live a normal and productive life again with the right medical, psychological and financial help.
CT