Asheville Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

Asheville Catastrophic Injury Attorney

People in Asheville and nearby communities can suffer many personal injuries throughout the year, many due to auto accidents and falls on dangerous property. In some cases, personal injuries from these accidents are minor, and an injured party will heal in several months. Unfortunately, victims of catastrophic injuries suffer the effects of these wounds for the rest of their lives. It’s important to work with an Asheville catastrophic injury lawyer to deal with the complex requirements of a claim.

Catastrophic injuries are part of a subcategory of personal injury. They include any injuries with permanent, disabling, or debilitating effects on a person for the rest of their life. Traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, and other spinal cord injuries, and amputation are common examples of catastrophic injuries. A catastrophic injury can prevent a person from working, performing basic functional activities, or caring for their family.

The financial and emotional consequences of these injuries are serious, and a personal injury claim can recover these damages when injuries were the result of another’s negligence. An experienced attorney is an important ally when securing the compensation that you or a loved one deserve.

Effective Catastrophic Accident Attorneys in Asheville

When another party is to blame for your injury and altered life, you shouldn’t shoulder the financial and emotional costs of your injury. Unfortunately, the process of filing a claim against them can be more challenging than you expect, and it is made much harder by a debilitating injury. At the Law Offices of Wade E. Byrd P.A., our team can guide you through a catastrophic personal injury claim. We want to help you hold the at-fault party responsible.

For more than 40 years, our team has handled personal injury claims in the communities surrounding Asheville, North Carolina. We have significant experience in the unique challenges present in catastrophic injury claims. Our firm can help you understand your claim, and we can work to fully investigate the incident or accident that left you injured. We can then determine the individual or group at fault and fight for your interests in negotiation or litigation as necessary.

When you work with the Law Offices of Wade E. Byrd P.A., your case is more likely to succeed, and you are more likely to maximize the compensation that you obtain.

Common Catastrophic Personal Injuries

A catastrophic injury is a type of personal injury that impacts you for the rest of your life. It may prevent you from:

• Walking
• Communicating
• Aiding your family
• Doing your job
• Managing daily tasks and basic functions

Some catastrophic injury victims have limited movement capabilities, while others need constant at-home personal care. It is important that a personal injury claim takes the type of injury and its impact on your life into account.

Some common catastrophic injuries include:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries: Concussions are a minor form of traumatic brain injury, and severe traumatic brain injuries can impact your ability to speak, move, or use normal cognitive functions, or even change your personality. These injuries are common in car accidents, slip-and-fall accidents from significant heights, or accidents involving heavy machinery.
• Amputations: Loss of limbs can occur during an accident. If a limb has suffered crushing injuries or other harm, it may need to be removed. This can physically and mentally impact you and alter how you perform daily tasks. Depending on your field of work, it may keep you from gainful employment. Amputations can also cause emotional harm and frustration.
• Organ Damage: High-impact injuries from car accidents, building collapses, or falls can result in compression of or damage to internal organs. This can impact your body’s ability to function for the rest of your life.
• Spinal Cord Injuries: Spinal cord injuries can result in partial or total paralysis.
• Multiple Fractures and Sprains: Fractures and sprains may seem like minor injuries, but when your body endures a full-body injury that results in multiple minor injuries, it may be considered catastrophic. It can result in a long period of healing and long-term damage.
• Severe Burn Scarring: Severe burns can result from electrical and building fires, chemical burns, and explosions. Any injury that causes severe scarring can cause long-term pain, limited movement, and psychological and emotional damage.
• Catastrophic Psychological Harm: Catastrophic accidents can result in non-physical injuries, such as debilitating anxiety, severe depression, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), and other psychological consequences that alter your ability to function.

It can be difficult for individuals unfamiliar with personal injury claims to accurately calculate the damages these injuries are worth. Many underestimate the true value of their injuries. They do not take into account:

• The income they have lost, possibly for the rest of their potential career
• The cost of future treatment or complications
• The cost of emotional damage, like loss of enjoyment of life

An experienced catastrophic injury attorney has the resources and knowledge of these cases to fairly and effectively determine how to get the most compensation for your unique claim.

What Are Common Causes of Catastrophic Injuries in Asheville?

There are many causes of personal injury claims, and some are more likely to result in catastrophic injuries than others. Some of the most common causes of catastrophic injury include:

• Dangerous Industry Workplace Accidents: Employees in certain industries are at an incredibly high risk for catastrophic injuries. Construction employees work with hazardous materials, at significant heights, and in trenches that can collapse. Employees in the farming industry, factories, and industrial plants work with dangerous equipment and industrial vehicles, which can cause catastrophic injuries.
• Motor Vehicle Accidents: Any car accident has the potential to cause life-altering and debilitating injuries. Collisions at high speeds, rollover accidents, and head-on collisions are more likely to cause catastrophic injuries. These injuries are also more likely when there is a commercial truck involved in an accident with smaller passenger cars. When a car collides with a smaller party, such as a motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian, these parties are more likely to suffer severe and/or fatal injuries.
• Medical Malpractice: Medical providers have a duty to do their work with a professional standard of care. When providers fail to meet their duty of care, patients can suffer traumatic injuries from unnecessary surgeries, incorrect surgeries, incorrect prescription doses, or contracting an illness.
• Premises Liability: When property owners fail to address or warn of hazards, people can be injured. Although slip-and-fall and other premises liability injuries can be minor, they can also result in falls from great heights, electrocution, and other harm that causes catastrophic injuries.

Asheville Catastrophic Injury FAQs

Q: What Qualifies as a Catastrophic Injury?

A: A catastrophic injury is a personal injury that has a permanent impact on an individual. This includes disfigurement, disability, or another condition that impacts a person’s ability to function on their own on a day-to-day basis. Common catastrophic injuries include:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• Severe burns and scarring
• Severe internal organ damage
• Loss of limbs

An injured individual can claim compensation for catastrophic injuries if someone was at fault for the accident or incident. The compensation due for these injuries is far more significant than with lesser injuries.

Q: What Are Catastrophic Injury Damages?

A: The damages available in catastrophic injury claims will directly rely on the severity of the unique costs, lost income, and noneconomic damages that someone has faced. A catastrophic injury claim, if successful, could claim all of an individual’s damages, including:

• Property damages that are the result of the incident
• Medical bills, including past bills, future treatment, and any devices or equipment needed to accommodate a person’s injury at home
• Lost income and lost potential earning power due to being unable to work
• Pain and suffering and other noneconomic damages, such as loss of quality of life, loss of consortium, and emotional trauma
• Any other relevant damages that an individual has suffered as a direct result of their injury

If an individual dies from their injuries, their family can claim wrongful death damages.

Q: What Is the Statute of Limitations for an Injury in North Carolina?

A: A personal injury claim must be filed within three years from the date the injury or incident occurred. If the statute of limitation expires, you can no longer recover compensation for your damages. In some cases, the 3-year deadline begins from the date when you discover an injury or should have discovered an injury.

Discuss your case with an attorney as soon as possible. The longer you wait to begin a claim, the more likely it is that important evidence will vanish or be difficult to find. An attorney can help you determine if you are still within the statute of limitations.

Q: What Is the Maximum Pain and Suffering Compensation in North Carolina?

A: For most types of personal injury or catastrophic injury claims, North Carolina law does not have a limit on noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages are damages without a clear monetary value, such as mental trauma or physical pain. North Carolina does have noneconomic damage limits in medical malpractice claims. The noneconomic damages cannot exceed $500,000. An attorney can help you maximize your compensation in a way that is fair.

Defend Your Rights in Asheville

A catastrophic injury can be physically and financially straining, but it can also be emotionally and psychologically traumatizing. This is not an easy situation to manage by yourself, and it can be incredibly frustrating to do so. At the Law Offices of Wade E. Byrd P.A., we want to provide a compelling case for compensation that gives you the greatest chance of recovering fully. We understand the difficult position you and your family are in, and we want to help. Contact our team today.