Personal Injury Law

Missouri Auto Accident Victims Talk to Students About Making Smart Choices Behind the Wheel

By Jeff Lowe, Esq.

Students at high schools in and around Marshall, Missouri gathered to hear the stories of disabled victims of serious car crashes, the Marshall Democrat-News reported March 9. The speakers are a part of a program called ThinkFirst Missouri, sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Medicine. They advocated thoughtful, responsible driving to the students by telling the stories of how they ended up permanently disabled after serious Missouri car wrecks.

Speaker Penny Lorenz is a paraplegic, which means her lower body is paralyzed because of damage to her spinal cord. She told the students she sustained that injury at the age of 17, when she was a passenger in a car that was knocked off the road and rolled over several times while she was not wearing a seatbelt. She hates her injury, she told the high school audience.

Speaker Chad Burton was also 17 when he was injured in a collision with a drunk driver. He suffered a traumatic brain injury -- permanent brain damage -- that left him paralyzed on his left side. Before his accident, he was a high school wrestler and very active. Now, he told the students, he looks at every activity or task involving two hands and wonders how to perform it with just one.

As a St. Louis personal injury attorney, I am glad this program is raising awareness of the potentially devastating consequences of a serious car crash in Missouri. The injuries the speakers have suffered are catastrophic injuries that permanently change their victims? lives. Spinal injuries leave their victims with at least some loss of movement and sensation; in serious cases, victims can be completely paralyzed and may need a ventilator to breathe. Traumatic brain injuries kill brain tissue, which could result in mental or physical disabilities, memory loss; sensory problems or even changes in personality.

These losses are physically and emotionally painful -- and in many cases, they are also very expensive to treat over a lifetime. When these and other serious auto accident injuries are the result of another person?s carelessness, victims have the right to hold that person legally and financially responsible. In a Missouri car crash lawsuit, victims and their families can win the money they need to pay for costs of the accident, including future medical care and lost wages, along with compensation for their physical and emotional pain.

If you or someone you love has sustained serious brain damage, paralysis or other serious injuries in a car accident, The Lowe Law Firm can help. To speak with us in detail about your case and your legal options, please contact us online as soon as possible or call 1-877-678-3400 to set up a free consultation.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).