Broken Bones

Likely the most common injury that you can suffer in an accident in Philadelphia, broken bones are still far from trivial. Even when a broken bone or fracture is simple and straightforward, it can still take months to recover from, holding you out of work until you have completely healed. When the injury is more complex and requires surgery and physical therapy, the road to recovery is longer, more painful, and less certain.

If you have broken a bone or sustained a severe fracture in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, getting legal representation can ensure you recover the compensation you need and deserve. The personal injury lawyers at the Philadelphia law office of Gilman & Bedigian can help.

Common Types of Broken Bones

There are a lot of different ways that you can break a bone in an accident – and a lot of different bones in your body that can be the direct site of the impact. As a result, it should come as no surprise that there is a huge variety of broken bone injuries that you can suffer. Some of the most common are the following.

• Broken legs in a motorcycle accident. Motorcyclists in Philadelphia stand a considerable chance of suffering a broken bone in their lower extremity if they are involved in a motorcycle crash with another motor vehicle. This is particularly true if the other car hit you from the side, where you have no protection against the impact of the collision and where your legs can become trapped between the oncoming vehicle and your bike. In these cases, broken legs, ankles, knees, or femurs are all common, as are serious injuries to your pelvis or hips.
• Broken wrists in a bicycle accident. If your bike does not have a motor on it, the most common type of broken bone injury that you can suffer in a bike accident is a fractured or broken wrist. Unlike for motorcyclists, this injury does not happen in the collision, itself. Instead, it is much more likely to happen when a cyclist, hit by a motor vehicle or falling on a dangerous road condition, throws out their hands to protect themselves from the contact with the ground. This protective reaction is subconscious and difficult to suppress in the sudden moment of a crash. It often also protects more vulnerable parts of your body from the fall. Nevertheless, the force of the fall on your hands and wrist are often severe enough to cause a significant wrist injury that can be quite complex.
• Broken hands in a slip and fall. Similarly, if you slip and fall on a dangerous ground condition in a store or on a sidewalk, the first reaction that you are likely to have – and one that you are unlikely to suppress in the heat of the moment – is to throw out your hands to brace yourself for the imminent impact. The force that this puts on your hands, unfortunately, is often more than they were designed to withstand. While the protection that you hands provide is frequently enough to keep other parts of your body from sustaining serious injuries – like your head if you are unable to break your fall and it hits the ground – the hand injuries that you are likely to sustain are often serious enough to warrant medical attention.

These are, of course, just the most common broken bones that you can suffer in an accident in the Philadelphia area. Others are less common but more severe, like a broken neck or back.

Legal Damages from Broken Bone Injuries

If you break or fracture a bone in an accident in Philadelphia, and that accident was caused by someone else’s negligence or reckless behavior, then you deserve to be reimbursed for the expenses and the pain that you have been put through. This is especially true when there was nothing that you could have done to prevent the accident from happening, in the first place.

The personal injury law in Pennsylvania, thankfully, recognizes this reality, as well as the fact that your injuries go far beyond than just the medical expenses you have had to pay to recover from the break. Therefore, Pennsylvania law accounts for the following types of legal damages that you are likely to have sustained when you break a bone in an accident.

• Lost income. Perhaps the most important type of legal damage that you can recover in a personal injury lawsuit is for the wages that you have missed out on, while you were healing from your injury. For victims who work in physically-demanding jobs, a broken bone often sidelines them completely while they recover, putting their financial well-being into serious jeopardy.
• Lost earning capacity. When the broken bone is complex and severe, the chance exists that you never fully recover. If this disability prevents you from returning to work in your old capacity, you can be forced into a lower-paying position or into a new line of work, altogether.
• Pain and suffering. Broken bones are painful, and can prevent you from enjoying your life while you recover. Both the physical pain that you have been put through, as well as the loss of life’s enjoyments that the condition has caused, are not your fault. You deserve to be compensated for the ordeal that you have been forced to go through.

These legal damages are in addition to the medical expenses you have to pay for your recovery – both in the past and in the future.

Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyers at Gilman & Bedigian

If you have been hurt in an accident that you did not cause in or near the city of Philadelphia, having legal representation can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case and in your future financial well-being. The personal injury lawyers at Gilman & Bedigian can help. By contacting them online, you can rest assured that everything is being done to recover the compensation that you and your family need and deserve.