Personal Injury Law

Grain Truck Accident Paralyzes Young Woman on Her Wedding Night

By Jeffrey Lowe

A recent article from the Belleville News-Democrat caught my eye as a southern Illinois tractor-trailer accident attorney. The Feb. 16 article is about Kelli and Chad Wisneski, both 20, who were involved in a serious accident with a grain truck on the night of their Nov. 22 wedding. The crash left Kelli paralyzed from the chest down and in need of major medical care, including 18 kinds of medication. She and her husband spent their wedding night at St. Louis University Hospital, from which she was discharged Feb. 9. Now, they?re living with Kelli?s parents in Freeburg, and are planning a fundraiser to help the family build an addition to accommodate Kelli?s electronic wheelchair.

Neither the bride nor the groom remembers much about the night of the accident. They were traveling down Illinois 15 to Chad?s parents? house when they hit a grain truck pulling out from a field. Both passed out and awoke calling for one another. Chad was originally ticketed for failure to slow down, but that ticket was dropped. Neither of them was drinking. The article didn?t say what role the truck?s driver played, or whether he or she was injured in the crash. Kelli had just quit a job as a bartender and Chad worked as a roofer, but has been laid off. Both had planned to go to school in Missouri before the accident, but now they?re working on Kelli?s health. The family is waiting for Medicaid payments to begin, but in the meantime, they have only enough medication for two weeks.

I see avoidable tragedies like this more often than most, through my work as a Missouri semi truck accident lawyer. Unfortunately, it?s not uncommon for trucking accident victims to leave the scene with permanent, lifelong injuries. And, like Kelli Wisneski, these victims often end up on shaky financial footing due to their very high medical bills, with no health insurance to cover them and no hope of going back to work and earning an income. The article isn?t clear about fault for the crash, but victims may sue at-fault truck drivers and their trucking companies for all of the injuries and financial costs they caused. Of course, this is far from an adequate compensation for having your health and your dreams snatched away in an instant. But it can help trucking accident victims get medical care and support themselves financially as they learn to live with a new disability.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on February 18, 2010 (boomark / email).