Have you suffered a serious brain injury in an accident in Cocoa, Florida? If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligent or intentional behavior, you may be entitled to compensation.
Since 2020, Norden Leacox Car Accident And Personal Injury Lawyers has represented brain injury survivors in holding negligent drivers, property owners, criminals, and other at-fault parties accountable for the harm they cause.
Contact our law office to schedule a free consultation at 470-801-3000 today with a Cocoa brain injury lawyer ready to fight for you.
How Norden Leacox Car Accident And Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With Your Brain Injury Case in Cocoa
A brain injury is one of the most serious injuries you can sustain. These injuries often result in extensive medical expenses and a long and difficult recovery. You may be left with permanent effects and impairment that affect your everyday life and ability to work.
You do not need to take on the insurance company on your own. While you focus on your recovery, an experienced Cocoa personal injury lawyer can handle your claim and pursue the compensation you deserve. At Norden Leacox Car Accident And Personal Injury Lawyers, we put over 75 years of combined experience to work to fight for you.
Here’s how our personal injury law firm in Cocoa, FL, can help you:
- Investigate your accident to identify liable parties
- Gather evidence to prove liability and your damages
- Work with medical, vocational, and mental health experts to document your losses
- Negotiate on your behalf to seek a fair settlement offer
- Take your case before a jury if needed
We have recovered tens of millions in life-changing awards and settlements for our clients. Contact our law office for a free consultation with a Cocoa personal injury attorney so we can help you, too.
Overview of Brain Injuries
Brain injuries are categorized in many ways depending on the type of wound, general cause, and severity.
Regardless of the type, a brain injury can cause damage to one or more areas of the brain:
- Cerebrum, which is divided into four lobes and mostly handles higher brain functions
- Cerebellum, which has two hemispheres and mostly controls coordination, balance, and equilibrium
- Brain stem, which has three parts and controls involuntary bodily functions
The symptoms and long-term effects of a brain injury are determined by the areas of the brain affected and the severity of the injury.
Closed Versus Open Head Injuries
Head injuries are categorized as either open or closed. An open head injury refers to an injury that penetrates the skull. Closed injuries mean the skull is not penetrated with only internal damage. Open brain injuries are generally more severe.
Traumatic Versus Acquired Brain Injuries
Brain injuries can be classified as either acquired or traumatic. An acquired brain injury (ABI) is caused by an internal occurrence such as hemorrhage, stroke, or infection. Sometimes hereditary, congenital, or degenerative conditions are considered acquired brain injuries.
As the name implies, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by trauma such as a blow to the head or high-force acceleration and deceleration.
Traumatic Brain Injury Severity
Traumatic brain injuries are classified as mild, moderate, or severe. The severity of the injury is the single greatest factor determining the impact of the injury. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is used to determine the severity of a brain injury. It evaluates a patient based on verbal and motor response and eye opening.
Types of Brain Injuries
There are many types of brain injuries ranging from mild to severe. Common types of traumatic brain injury include:
- Concussion, or mild TBI
- Brain contusion or bruising
- Hematoma, which happens when blood collects in the brain tissue, between the brain and dura, or beneath the skull
- Diffuse axonal injury (DAI), which happens when the brain shifts rapidly and causes connecting fibers or axons to be sheared
- Second impact syndrome (SIS), which refers to a second concussion before an initial concussion has healed
- Coup injury, which occurs under the site of a blow to the head
- Contrecoup injury, which occurs on the opposite side of the impact
- Coup-contrecoup injury, which involves both a coup and contrecoup brain injury
- Anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries which occur when the brain receives too little or no oxygen
While some types of TBI are more serious than others, any brain injury can have serious and life-changing effects.
How Common Are Brain Injuries?
Every year, about 2.5 million people in the United States suffer a traumatic brain injury. About 230,000 people each year are hospitalized and survive TBI. Another 50,000 people suffer a fatal brain injury. Around 85,000 people each year are disabled by brain injuries.
Brain injury is a major factor in a significant number of injury-related deaths in the U.S.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of a Brain Injury?
Brain injuries cause a range of symptoms that vary by person, severity, injury type, and area of the brain affected. The more severe the injury, the more symptoms you are likely to experience and the greater the chance of long-term consequences.
Common mild TBI symptoms include:
- Loss of consciousness for seconds
- Memory loss
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Vomiting or nausea
- Dizziness
- Blurred vision
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Sleep changes
Moderate to severe TBI can cause the symptoms above and more serious symptoms such as:
- Loss of consciousness for minutes or longer
- Unequal pupil dilation
- Seizures
- Repeated vomiting
- Weakness, tingling, or numbness of the fingers or toes
- Changes in personality, mood, behavior, and emotions
- Poor coordination and motor control
- Difficulty speaking
- Coma
Sometimes, the effects of a brain injury are apparent right away; it’s common for symptoms to be delayed. The symptoms may also worsen as the injury can trigger a cascade of changes in the brain.
What Are the Long-Term Consequences of a Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injury can be life-threatening and often results in long-term effects. Even mild brain injuries can have a lasting impact.
Long-term effects of moderate to severe brain injuries tend to be more serious and disabling. The effects usually depend on the location of the brain injury.
For example, the frontal lobe primarily regulates judgment, impulse control, reasoning, and problem-solving. Frontal lobe damage can cause someone to engage in inappropriate or risky behavior.
Damage to the right side of the brain can cause problems with visual processing and performing familiar tasks. Left-side damage can affect speaking, understanding speech, and logic. Someone with moderate to severe right-side damage may struggle to recognize people or know how to use common items like a hairbrush.
Potential long-term effects of a brain injury can include:
- Seizures
- Memory problems
- Concentration problems
- Visual changes
- Paralysis
- Balance issues
- Difficulty with language
- Personality changes
- Difficulty regulating emotions
- Trouble with impulse control and problem-solving
- Cognitive impairment
- Sleep changes
- Depression
- Locked-in syndrome (LiS) due to brain stem damage
- Post-concussion syndrome (PCS)
Even a concussion can cause long-term symptoms that last months or longer than one year. In 90% of cases, concussion symptoms resolve within two weeks. When they linger, research shows that even a mild TBI can have a lasting impact on learning, memory, executive function, and cognition.
Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) may leave you with chronic headaches, dizziness, memory and concentration issues, and sensitivity to light and sound.
While you may recover some function after a brain injury, you may be left unable to work or perform daily tasks. Even with prompt medical attention, brain injury survivors are often left with permanent impairment.
What Causes Brain Injuries?
A brain injury can result from any type of trauma. It does not require a blow to the head. The most common causes of traumatic brain injury are:
- Falls
- Being struck by an object, such as falling merchandise
- Motor vehicle accidents, including car accidents and motorcycle accidents
- Assault
- Self-harm
- Sports injuries
About 48% of all TBI-related emergency room visits are caused by falls. Seniors are at the highest risk: falls account for 81% of brain injuries among elderly people. About 20% of brain injury hospitalizations are caused by traffic accidents, while being struck by an object causes 17% of TBI hospitalizations. Around 21% of TBI injuries in children and adolescents are caused by sports.
What Is My Cocoa Brain Injury Case Worth?
There is no easy way to determine the value of a brain injury case in Cocoa. Generally, the value of your case depends on the severity of your injury and the impact it has on your life. Your personal injury lawyer will help you understand the potential value of your case based on factors like:
- Severity of your brain injury
- Anticipated future medical needs
- Impact on your quality of life and independence
- Whether you can return to work or face permanent disability
- Your age
- Your total medical expenses
- The type of treatment you have received
- The defendant’s behavior and circumstances of your accident
Because brain injury cases can have a very high value, and it’s challenging to determine the value of non-economic and future losses, it’s crucial to work with an experienced lawyer. Your lawyer will likely work with many experts to document your damages and calculate future losses to pursue the full compensation you are owed.
What Compensation Can I Recover for My Brain Injury in Cocoa, Florida?
Brain injury survivors are entitled to recover compensation for their losses when someone else is liable. Compensatory damages are available in personal injury cases to compensate you for your actual damages, both personal and financial.
There are two forms of compensatory damages: special (economic) and general (non-economic) damages.
Special or economic damages compensate for financial losses. This includes:
- Property damage
- Medical bills
- Future anticipated medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost or reduced earning potential and future employment benefits
- Reasonable out-of-pocket costs
General or non-economic damages compensate for losses with no intrinsic financial value. This includes psychological, emotional, and personal losses like:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Disfigurement or scarring
- Reduced quality of life
- Inconvenience
In very rare cases, you may be entitled to punitive damages. These are damages awarded by a jury to punish a defendant for gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing.
How Long Do I Have To File a Brain Injury Lawsuit in Florida?
You have a limited amount of time to file a personal injury lawsuit related to a brain injury. The statute of limitations in Florida is usually two years from the date of your accident. This same deadline applies to wrongful death lawsuits.
There are some exceptions that may increase or reduce the amount of time you have to file your case. Missing this crucial deadline means you will be barred from recovering compensation and holding the at-fault party liable.
Don’t make the mistake of waiting to pursue your claim because you think you have plenty of time. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to gather evidence, document your losses, and prove liability.
Contact our Cocoa brain injury lawyers today to schedule a free consultation and discuss the next steps in your case.
Contact Our Brain Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Have you suffered a brain injury in an accident? You may be entitled to compensation for your losses, and our Cocoa personal injury lawyers are here to help you.
Norden Leacox Car Accident And Personal Injury Lawyers has recovered tens of millions in jury awards and settlements for our clients. We are ready to put our 75 years of combined experience to work on your behalf.
Contact our law office at 470-801-3000 today to schedule a free case review to discuss your legal options and what we can do for you.