If My Child Suffers a Spinal Injury, What Should I Do Next?

By Grant Law Office on June 30, 2022

A spinal cord injury can result in life-changing consequences for a child. If your child has suffered a spinal cord injury you should consult an experienced attorney. While an attorney obviously cannot repair damage to a spinal cord, we can endeavor to ensure you receive full compensation.

Generally, the younger the child receiving treatment, the more successful the outcome. Therefore it is important not to delay in seeking the support of an attorney for your child’s care.

Grant Law Office can provide this care for your injured child. Call us at (404) 995-3955 today.

What types of accidents can cause spinal cord injury and who may be responsible?

Spinal cord injuries are generally the result of negligent health care, medical malpractice, or an accident such as a car crash. Often spinal cord injuries in children result from a difficult birth. It is easy for a surgeon or doctor to inadvertently hurt a baby. During delivery a child may need assistance being born.

If a doctor pulls a newborn, a nerve may be traumatized, causing them to suffer brachial plexus injury. Another instance may cause the nerve that connects to the spine to be stretched, or in extreme cases, torn.

In other cases, a spinal cord injury is caused by too much traction, which can occur when forceps are used in delivery. These situations are all devastating, and require a skilled attorney to assess causation, and determine who is responsible for your child’s injury.

How a spinal cord injury can change a child’s life

A spinal cord injury is a serious injury which will significantly impact a child’s life. Anyone with a spinal cord injury may lose quality and length of life. This is particularly devastating for children, who have their whole life ahead of them.

Generally, the younger a child is, the more difficult it is for them to cope with a spinal cord injury. This makes spinal cord injuries from birth especially challenging. While children are very resilient, it is a difficult task to help them learn to move in ways which are not instinctive to them.

Symptoms of spinal injury

Every spinal cord injury and child are different, but there are some consistencies in the injury depending on the location of the injured nerve. Injury to the top of the neck can affect the entire body, making a child a quadriplegic.

If the injured nerve is in the low back, it is likely the injury will affect the legs, as well as the bladder and bowel. Bowel and bladder problems particularly affect a child’s quality of life, with patients often having to wear colostomy bags.

Treatment Options

Due to advances in medical care, some treatment options are available. Sometimes nerves can be regenerated with help from a specialist surgeon, but this is not always successful. Generally, if recovery is to be made it occurs soon after the injury, provided proper care is received.

Due to the complex and specialist nature of treatment options, when children suffer from a spinal injury they will incur large medical bills and require constant specialist care.

While an attorney cannot personally provide this care, we can ensure you have access to the best possible medical treatment. This ensures children with spinal cord injuries have every opportunity to receive the right treatment, with the aim that they can hopefully live fulfilling and independent lives.

If you need to involve an attorney

For over 30 years Atlanta’s Grant Law Office has been providing aggressive personal injury legal representation. Grant Law Office sincerely hopes you and your child never need their services, but if you do, please call us at (404) 995-3955 for a free consultation.