Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney in Fort Worth
A brain injury can be one of the most severe injuries a person can suffer in an accident. While usually not visible, brain injuries can have significant and potentially life-altering consequences for the victim.
A person who suffers a traumatic brain injury may be forced to deal with weeks or even months of treatment and rehabilitation. Even after receiving treatment, a brain injury could leave a person with permanent physical and cognitive impairments and permanent changes to behavior and mood. The most severe brain injuries can even be fatal.
We Have Some of the Best Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers in Fort Worth
If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an accident that was somebody else’s fault, a Fort Worth brain injury lawyer can help you seek financial recovery for your expenses and losses.
The attorneys of The Wilhite Law Firm focus exclusively on representing the rights and interests of brain injury victims in Fort Worth and throughout Texas. When you are going through the complex process of recovering from a brain injury, you can expect us to be there to support you. We will work hard to maintain regular communication with you throughout your recovery, keep you updated on the progress of your case, and answer any questions you have. We are committed to standing up to large insurance companies to demand compensation and accountability for you.
If you have suffered a TBI in an accident in Fort Worth, you may be entitled to seek financial recovery. Reach out to The Wilhite Law Firm today for a free initial case evaluation. We can discuss how a Fort Worth brain injury lawyer can help you pursue the compensation you need and deserve.
When Can You File a Personal Injury Claim after a Traumatic Brain Injury?
You may be entitled to file a personal injury claim after suffering a brain injury in an accident. To file a claim, you must show that the accident would not have occurred but for someone else’s actions or omissions.
You must also prove that you have suffered losses for which you can be financially compensated through a personal injury claim, such as medical bills, lost income from work, and pain and suffering. Ask a TBI lawyer from The Wilhite Law Firm to thoroughly review the facts of your case and explain all options available to you in a free consultation now.
Common Causes of Brain Injuries
Some of the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in Fort Worth include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Premises liability accidents
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Oil field accidents
- Defective product and product liability accidents
Pursuing Compensation for a Traumatic Brain Injury in Forth Worth
Depending on the severity of your TBI, you may have suffered significant financial and personal losses. In a TBI claim, you may be entitled to seek compensation for those losses, including:
- Costs of treatment and rehabilitation, including emergency care and hospital stays, surgeries and other medical procedures, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and therapy, medications, and purchases of medical and mobility equipment such as wheelchairs and other assistive devices
- Long-term care expenses, such as home health services, social support services, and home renovations to provide accommodations for physical disabilities
- Loss of wages and income, and loss of future earning ability, where a brain injury and resulting disabilities affect your ability to work
- Physical pain and mental anguish, including emotional trauma and distress, including due to behavioral and mood changes and swings and the onset of anxiety and depression
- Loss of quality of life when your injuries and resulting disabilities interfere with your activities of daily living
Symptoms of a Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury can cause various symptoms, depending on the type and severity of the injury. Common symptoms of a mild TBI include:
- Headaches
- Fatigue and drowsiness
- Dizziness and loss of balance
- Nausea and vomiting
- Speech problems
- Altered senses, including blurred vision, ringing in the ears, and a bad taste in the mouth
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Brief loss of consciousness
- Feeling dazed, disoriented, and confused
- Problems with memory and concentration
- Mood changes and swings
- Feelings of anxiety and depression
- Sleeping problems, whether sleeping more than usual or difficulty falling asleep
Moderate to severe TBIs can cause much more significant symptoms, such as:
- Loss of consciousness lasting several minutes to several hours
- Persistent or worsening headache
- Persistent nausea and vomiting
- Convulsions and seizures
- Dilation of pupils
- Draining of clear fluids from the ears and nose
- Loss of coordination
- Weakness and numbness in fingers and toes
- Inability to be woken up from sleep
- Significant confusion, agitation, and other unusual behavior
- Slurred speech
What Can You Expect with Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury?
Treatment of a TBI is based on the severity of the injury. Mild traumatic brain injuries sometimes require little or no treatment beyond rest and over-the-counter pain relievers to help with headaches. However, someone who has suffered a mild TBI must be monitored in the days following an injury for persistent or worsening symptoms, which may indicate a much more severe injury than was initially diagnosed. A mild TBI also increases the risk of more severe outcomes if the person is injured again.
Moderate and severe brain injuries require immediate medical attention. Treatment for moderate to severe TBIs is initially focused on preventing further harm to the head, neck, and brain tissue. Treatments may include:
- Medication, including diuretics to reduce fluids in tissues and help reduce inflammation and swelling around the brain, anti-seizure drugs, and coma-inducing drugs needed when an injury causes reduced blood and oxygen flow
- Surgery, including repairing skull fractures and bleeding, removing blood clots, and opening a window in the skull to help relieve pressure on the brain
After a moderate or severe brain injury has stabilized, an injury victim may require rehabilitation to help them get back to performing daily activities. Rehabilitations services may include:
- Physical therapy, which helps with mobility, balance, and walking
- Occupational therapy, which helps with fine motor control and relearning how to perform daily activities
- Speech and language therapy, which can help with re-establishing the ability to speak and relearning how to understand the spoken and written word
- Mental health therapy, which can help an injury victim’s changes in mood and behavior and can help address mental health consequences of a brain injury, such as anxiety and depression
How a Brain Injury Can Forever Alter a Person’s Life
Moderate to severe brain injuries can permanently alter an accident victim’s life. The damage a brain injury causes may leave a person with lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities that make it difficult to work, participate in activities, or even perform daily tasks. A brain injury victim may require a lifetime of medical and personal care due to permanent disabilities. That can create a significant financial burden, particularly when an injury victim is also disabled from gainful employment.
Brain injuries can also lead to a permanently reduced quality of life. In addition to physical and cognitive disabilities that may interfere with activities of daily living, a brain injury can also result in permanent shifts in a person’s behavior and mood. That can harm an injury victim’s personal relationships, particularly when the injury victim and their family and friends don’t realize that the brain injury has caused these changes in behavior and mood.
Fortunately, brain injury victims today have numerous medical and social resources available to help them recover, rehabilitate, and work toward regaining the life they had before their injury. Yet, for some people who suffer brain injuries, the process of recovery may end up lasting the rest of their lives. Working with a lawyer to protect your legal rights can play a role in moving forward after a brain injury.
Types of Brain Injuries
Some of the most common types of brain injuries accident victims could suffer include:
- Concussion
- Edema, or swelling of the brain
- Diffuse axonal injury, which involves shearing of nerve cells in the brain
- Hematoma, or pooling of blood in and around the brain
- Skull fracture
- Hypoxic or anoxic brain injury is caused by a shortage or cutoff, respectively, of blood and oxygen flow to the brain, which causes brain cells to start dying
How Long Do You Have to File a Brain Injury Lawsuit in Texas?
In Texas, the statute of limitations imposes a deadline on filing a lawsuit to recover compensation after suffering a brain injury. Typically, you have only two years from when you suffered a brain injury to file suit against the parties responsible for causing your injury.
If you wait until the statute of limitations expires on your claim to file a lawsuit, the court will be barred from hearing your case. If that happens, you can lose the opportunity to seek financial recovery and justice from those responsible for your injury. That makes it critical for you to speak to a Fort Worth brain injury attorney as soon as possible to get started on building your case.
Talk to a Fort Worth Brain Injury Lawyer Today for Free
The Fort Worth traumatic brain injury lawyers at The Wilhite Law Firm have the experience and resources to help you seek justice if you suffered a traumatic brain injury due to someone else’s negligence. We have seen firsthand the toll an injury like this can have on your life and livelihood.
Contact our Forth Worth personal injury attorney today for a free, no-obligation consultation, and let us stand up and fight for you.
