Why You Should Pursue a Personal Injury Claim for a Child
Each year millions of children throughout the United States are involved in personal injury accidents. These accidents include motor vehicle crashes, dog bites, school injuries, and premises liability accidents. After a child is hurt, the average parent is so focused on the child’s recovery that they fail to pursue personal injury claims for a child. Some parents simply overlook the opportunity to receive compensation while others believe that their child’s injury may not merit pursuing a claim. In reality, the parent of any child who is a victim of a personal injury accident should consider initiating a claim on their child’s behalf for several serious reasons.
Potential Long-Term Health Issues
Developing children recover differently than adults when it comes to certain types of injuries. Fractures in particular are extremely different when they occur in children versus adults. While children are able to heal fractures more quickly than adults, having an open growth plate places them at risk, especially if the fracture is not immediately noticeable on an x-ray. An injured growth plate can leave a child with a growth disturbance that may require surgery to fix, and other breaks such as collarbone fractures may leave children with noticeable bumps that take a long time to go away. Children who are younger than five years old are at additional risk of fracture-related complications that cause permanent damage, limiting their ability to function in the future.
Affects More than Just the Child
When a child is injured, the entire family is often affected. Parents must take time off of work to care for the child and take him or her to appointments. Additional child care must be arranged if the child has to miss school or cannot participate in scheduled activities because of the injuries. The lost wages and additional expenses caused by copayments or other medical costs then impact the entire family financially. All of this occurs in addition to a small child having to suffer through the healing process, making it all the more important to receive reasonable compensation for the injury.
Sometimes Easier to Reach a Settlement
There are times when an adult is in an accident and the at-fault party will attempt to blame the injured adult for his or her own injuries. They may claim the adult was negligent or insinuate that a prior medical condition existed that caused the injury. When a child is the injured, things get more complicated since children cannot always be held to the same level of responsibility as an adult. For that reason, it is imperative that you seek the help of a skilled lawyer to obtain a settlement on behalf of your child.
Contact Hunter W. Morris
The only way to know for sure if you should pursue a personal injury claim for your child is to contact a qualified attorney. Once an attorney has heard the details surrounding your child’s injury, he or she can give you the legal advice necessary to help you decide if you should move forward with a case. At Morris Law, our legal team is prepared to answer any questions that you have and work with you to make the choice that is best for your family. Contact us today to schedule a consultation so that we can begin talking about your needs.
