A spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very serious injury that could be suffered during a bicycle accident. Even at low speeds, cyclists have relatively little protection. When struck by a vehicle, spinal cord injuries are common.
Naturally, if the other driver made a negligent mistake and has caused you such harm, you may want to seek financial compensation. As you do, remember to consider more than just the immediate costs of things like emergency medical treatment or lost wages. You’ll also need to consider long-term costs.
High tetraplegia
For example, if you’ve suffered an injury between the C1 and the C4 vertebrae, it is relatively high on the spinal column, and it is referred to as high tetraplegia.
According to some estimates, this injury could cost over $1 million just in the first year. But your right to compensation does not stop there. For every subsequent year that you are living with that injury, you will incur an estimated $184,000 in further costs. This could include medical treatment, rehabilitation, lost wages, in-home care and more.
When factoring in the long-term costs, you also want to consider your age. If you are 50 years old when you get injured, for example, the estimated lifetime costs are just under $2.6 million. If you are just 25 years old at the time of injury, however, those estimated lifetime costs increase to over $4.7 million.
While these specific financial damages will be different in every unique case, this helps to demonstrate why you’ll need to think of the big picture and the long-term costs as you look into your legal options to seek appropriate financial compensation.
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