Spinal cord injuries are uncommon risks in car accidents and have the chance of devastating your future in the short and long term. These costs range from the financial to the physical to the emotional and understanding how to grapple with these costs may provide you with peace of mind or a solid strategy when pursuing a damages case.
SCIs, whether incomplete or complete, require a lot of patience and acceptance while recovering and beyond.
Physical and emotional costs
Injuries to your spinal column have the chance of affecting your entire body. From numbness and tingling to the full or partial paralysis of your limbs, these side effects have a deep impact on your everyday life. Many experience depression or anxiety when considering their future with these disabilities, or they lament the long road to their new normal. Reaching out for support and care may help.
Financial costs
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, first-year costs may run as high as $1.1 million depending on the severity. These costs include healthcare costs and estimated living expenses, but do not include any indirect costs such as the loss of wages from lack of work. These costs lessen in subsequent years, but still range from $45,000 to $200,000, and the estimated lifetime costs are in the millions.
That may all sound scary, but since SCIs have no proven cure from medical science yet, it may be the reality you have to face. You may not have to shoulder these costs alone, depending on your case. When moving past a traumatizing accident that leaves you with an SCI, understanding the costs and how you might recuperate them is one of the many steps on the way to a new normal.