Even the most responsible Floridians are not immune from car accidents. A normal day can turn into catastrophe if you are struck by a drunk, distracted, aggressive or otherwise negligent driver. Sometimes a person is lucky to walk away from a crash with a few scrapes and bruises, but other times a person suffers major injuries, including spinal cord injuries.
The cost of living with a spinal cord injury can be astronomic. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center as reported by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a person could face hundreds of thousands of dollars or more on healthcare and living expenses in the first year alone following a spinal cord injury.
On average, a person with a high tetraplegia injury can expect to incur over $1 million in medical and living expenses the first year of their injury, and nearly $185,000 in expenses each subsequent year. A person with a low tetraplegia injury can expect to pay around $769,000 on average in medical and living expenses the first year of their injury, and over $113,000 each subsequent year.
A person with a paraplegia injury can expect to pay almost $519,000 on average in medical and living expenses the first year of their injury and over $68,000 each subsequent year. Finally, a person who suffers any level of incomplete motor function can expect to pay on average around $347,500 in medical and living expenses the first year of their injury and over $42,000 each subsequent year.
Keep in mind that these numbers do not include other financial damages such as lost wages, loss of fringe benefits and lost productivity. All in all, most people aren’t equipped to handle such expenses on their own following a car crash, and insurance payouts may not be enough to cover all their losses. For this reason, if a person suffers a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle accident caused by a negligent driver, they may want to pursue a legal claim in order to receive compensation for the harms they suffered.