A spinal cord injury (SCI) will often have a significant financial cost. Even a minor SCI can be a life-changing event, creating medical bills, lost wages and more.
If you are seeking compensation from the person who is responsible—such as if you were involved in a catastrophic car accident caused by another driver—then you need to consider a variety of factors to determine exactly what financial impact the SCI is going to have on you. One of the most important of these factors is your age at the time of injury.
Annual costs
An SCI will come with average yearly costs. You may need physical rehabilitation or other types of medical care. You might require future surgeries, in-home care or long-term medication. The exact specifics will depend on the details of your injury case.
In this way, the financial impact of an SCI never truly ends. For example, if you suffer an injury such as paraplegia when you are 50 years old, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation estimates your lifetime cost at just over $1.5 million. This includes both the initial care received after the injury and all future costs, such as lost wages.
However, if you suffer the same injury at age 25, your costs will be much higher. The estimated cost of paraplegia at 25 is around $2.3 million. Accepting a settlement for $1.5 million, in this case, would leave you without enough to cover your lifetime needs.
Seeking compensation
If you have suffered a long-term injury, it is imperative to understand what legal steps to take to seek full and fair compensation.