A car accident can cause a stroke if the brain sustains trauma that impacts the blood vessels. Car crashes can also cause strokes because of the stress they cause. After a car accident, you should seek medical treatment immediately if you exhibit any signs or symptoms of a stroke. Prompt care could lessen the effects of a stroke.
If you suffered from a stroke in a car accident, you could seek compensation for your losses. A car accident attorney could support you through your claim. Handling the claims process independently after a stroke can have many challenges. When you entrust an attorney to handle your case, you can focus on recovering.
How Do Car Accidents Cause Strokes?
Car accidents can cause strokes for several reasons. According to the Mayo Clinic, a hemorrhagic stroke can occur when a blood vessel bursts. This may occur when trauma impacts the brain and causes a blood vessel to rupture. Therefore, you could have a stroke if you sustain head trauma in a car accident.
According to the Polish Journal of Neurology & Neurosurgery, emotional stress may cause ischemic strokes. The aftermath of a car accident could cause you significant stress and worry. For example, you might be distressed if your medical bills are piling up and you cannot make money to pay them because your injuries prevent you from working. These financial issues due to the car accident could cause stress, leading to a stroke.
How Long Does it Take to Recover from a Stroke?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the recovery timeline for a stroke typically looks something like this:
- Stroke victims typically stay in the hospital for about five to seven days. During this time, your medical care providers will determine the severity of the stroke and develop a rehabilitation plan.
- For about three months after the stroke, you will likely undergo rehabilitative treatments to increase your mobility. During this time, some people make great strides in recovery, while others continuously experience setbacks. However, you will likely make the most improvement during this critical time.
- You could still experience improvements six months post-stroke, but they will be much slower. Some people continue to feel the impacts of a stroke for years or even the rest of their lives.
It can take a long time to recover from a stroke. Because of this, you must think about the future losses your stroke could cause. Your personal injury attorney can help you calculate the value of your long-term medical care to ensure you don’t have to pay for it out of pocket.
You Could Seek Compensation From the Liable Party If a Car Accident Caused Your Stroke
After your stroke, you could be hospitalized for a long time while recovering. While in the hospital, you might miss many days at work. Because of these potential losses you could suffer while you recover, you deserve compensation to avoid a financial crisis.
Damages You Could Seek Compensation for After a Stroke
According to Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 41.0010, personal injury victims can pursue economic and non-economic damages after an accident. These damages may include:
- Medical expenses: You could accrue medical bills for the hospital stay immediately after the stroke and follow-up doctor’s visits after being released.
- Rehabilitative expenses: Stroke victims could require physical, speech, and/or occupational therapy.
- Lost income: You can seek compensation for all wages you lose during your stroke recovery, including future earnings if you must take a lower-paying job or cannot return to work at all because your stroke symptoms are too severe.
- Pain and suffering: Head trauma and issues from a stroke could cause you to experience physical and emotional pain that impacts your quality of life. The law allows injury victims to pursue compensation for these damages after an injury.
If your case is successful, you could avoid the financial ramifications of the stroke caused by the at-fault party in the car accident.
You Must Prove the Car Accident Caused Your Stroke
To successfully get compensation for a stroke after a car accident, you must prove the car accident caused your stroke. Proving this connection may be difficult, since strokes often don’t occur immediately after head trauma. The insurance company could deny your claim if you cannot prove a connection. Thankfully, your car accident attorney can gather evidence to help with this aspect of your case.
Regardless of how severe or minor your injuries appear immediately after the accident, you should seek medical attention, especially if you hit your head. Even if you only have mild pain, having a medical care provider examine you could identify the potential for a stroke.
Even if they don’t identify a stroke as a likely possibility, having documentation that you suffered a head injury in the car accident could help your case if you do suffer a stroke later on. These medical records could be the difference between reaching a successful outcome in your case and losing out on the compensation you deserve.
Therefore, even if you don’t believe you need medical attention, visiting a medical care provider after a car accident is critical. It’s much better to be safe than sorry.
A Car Accident Attorney Can Help With Your Case
When you suffer a stroke, your ability to speak, write, walk, and conduct yourself the way you used to could drastically change. Because of this, going through an insurance claim or lawsuit on your own may seem impossible. Thankfully, a car accident attorney can help you throughout your case.
At Loncar Lyon Jenkins, we can help if you sustained a stroke due to a car accident. Our attorneys understand how difficult this situation is. We can help you fight for justice, so you can move on with your life without worrying about the financial consequences of your stroke. Contact us today for a free consultation with our legal team. We can handle your case and advocate for you while pursuing the compensation you deserve.
