Bicycle Accident Injury

Published on: June 23, 2011

Record Brain and Spinal Injury Payout Goes to 9-year-old Boy

by Stephen Bilkis

A 9-year-old boy who was accidentally run over by his own father on a family day out was recently awarded compensation worth £8.1 million today. This is a record-setting amount for a court-approved award for a spinal injury, a New York Spinal Injury Lawyer says.

The boy will need lifelong care after suffering severe spinal and brain injuries in March of 2002 when he was just two-and-a-half years old.

The boy’s father did not see him when he reversed the car at Mead Open Farm, near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. The father drove over his son.

Published on: June 22, 2011

a college student was paralyzed from the neck down.

by Stephen Bilkis

In an accident at Disney World in 183, a college student was paralyzed from the neck down. The young man (at the time) was set up to receive up to $42 million over the next 51 years in accordance with an out-of-court settlement reached with the family entertainment institution.

The 21-year-old senior music major from Mississippi Valley State College was reported as saying, “It came out more than I expected.”

The trombone player and other students from around the country were rehearsing for the opening ceremonies performance when a platform fell on him. The impact broke his neck and spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic.

Published on: June 20, 2011

School Administrator Worried about Football Injury Award

by Stephen Bilkis

In 1982 jury, in Seattle, Washington, awarded $6.3 million to a high school football player who sustained serious injuries while playing for the school’s team.

That judgment worried one school official. He worried that school boards across the country would be prompted to review the benefits of sports programs unfairly against the possible costs of lawsuits. Programs that could lead to injury, he argued, could possibly be unnecessarily cut.

At the time of the settlement, the claimant was 21 years old.

Published on: June 19, 2011

26-year-old Mother a Victim of Hit-and-Run

by Stephen Bilkis

A 26-year-old listed the toll her body has paid at the hands of a drunk driver: impaired memory, multiple pelvis fractures, knee fracture, knee replacement, deep head and facial gashes, broken and missing teeth, spinal injury, seven facial surgeries, three of which were oral, constant pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

The young hospital nursing assistant was walking across Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill one and a half years ago after a celebratory night out with her father when she was run down.

“One careless mistake … changed my life forever,” the girl laments.

Published on: June 17, 2011

Accidental Bombing on U.S. Soil Leaves Family Devastated, 36 Years Ago

by Stephen Bilkis

“We heard the plane coming,” the plaintiff recalled. “You know when the bomb bays doors open, the bombs start to whistle. And when you hear the whistling, you know something’s going to be a bustin’.”

It took 36 years, but that man was finally compensated for the injury he received during the accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down in 1944 when the man’s spinal cord was severed by shrapnel. An errant bomber dropped 36 fragmentation bombs on his family’s home and land, missing his target by 10 miles. Paraplegia cases are common in severe accidents which happen in Nassau County and New York City.

He clearly remembers what the incoming bombs sounded like. He also remembers running. He ran almost to the front porch of his uncle’s farmhouse. Those steps proved to be his last steps – ever, taken at 12 years of age.

Published on: June 16, 2011

Baggage handler sues Qantas over spinal injury

by Stephen Bilkis

A baggage handler for Qantas Airways Limited has won a fight to sue his employer over a spinal injury he received while at work. In the District Court ruling, the employee successfully sought to extend the period of limitations so he could proceed with a lawsuit.

The 39-year-old was left with a cervical spine injury in January 2006 after lifting a telescopic pole from the baggage compartment of an aircraft. Medical diagnosis at the time was that the man had a disc herniation which was caused by degeneration over time. He was told his symptoms would subside within two months and he did not require any treatment.

However, he continued to suffer from neck, left arm and leg pain for years, despite being transferred to a less physical role with the airline.

Published on: June 16, 2011

One of Five Explosion Cases Reaches Settlement with BP

by Stephen Bilkis

Europe’s second-largest oil company, BP Plc., settled one of the five cases set to go to trial last September on the day the trial was to start. The case concerns an explosion that occurred at its Texas Refinery in 2005.

The two sons of a 26-year-old man who killed himself about six weeks after the explosion, settled with the corporation the night before trial was to start. The settlement was for an undisclosed amount, both sides said. That leaves four claims for the first trial.

The March 2005 blast killed 15 and injured hundreds.

Published on: June 15, 2011

Settlement Reached between Gymnast and Gym

by Stephen Bilkis

December 2006 saw a settlement reached between a 17-year-old gymnast and the gym she practiced gymnastics at. She was injured at the facility and suffered paralysis in 2005.

Details of the case were sealed to the public. “This is a natural occurrence when one or more of the parties involved are a minor,” a New York Spinal Injury Attorneyreported. Also attributed to the closed files, the parents and the girl’s attorney decided not to comment to the press at the time of the arraignment.

The Circuit Judge presiding over the case put his stamp of approval on the agreement.

Published on: June 9, 2011

First Patient to Receive Stem-Cell Treatment Reports Recovering Feeling in His Paralyzed Legs

by Stephen Bilkis

The first patient to receive a human embryonic stem-cell treatment for paralysis from a spinal-cord injury says he has regained some feeling in his legs.

The 21-year-old young man from Alabama was partially paralyzed in a Sept. 25 car crash. Now he has reported that he’s begun to feel slight sensation where he had none before — for example, a sense of relief when a bowling ball is lifted from his lap or discomfort when he pulls on hairs on his legs.

A New York Spinal Injury Lawyer cautions that the information is anecdotal at the moment and not scientific, but it is still very exciting for the stem-cell researcher who invented the procedure. “It’s an extraordinarily exciting outcome,” he said. “One that is very hopeful for the treatment.” The doctor echoes the caution though, indicating that it is far too early in the clinical trial for conclusive conclusions to be made.

Published on: June 7, 2011

Police Officer Injured by Drunk Driver Recovering

by Stephen Bilkis

A police officer from Springfield, Ohio, had reason to be upbeat earlier this month when his doctors reported that he now has movement in both of his legs. Earlier it was feared he might never walk again.

The officer was hit by a pickup truck while on duty at the end of March. He had been in the middle of evidence collection for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office along Arlington Road. A New York Spinal Injury Lawyer said the 34-year-old driver was drunk and subsequently charged with his fourth DUI.

Speaking to reporters from Summa Akron City Hospital, the injured officer said his faith has helped him hold no grudge against the driver, who is still in custody. He called the incident “terrible,” but added that “we all make mistakes. What he did was a criminal offense. He’ll be dealt with through the justice system, through the courts, and I’m sure he wouldn’t do it again.” Many car accident are the cause of spinal injuries in Long Island and Manhattan.