A World With Zero Deaths And Serious Injuries From Preventable Accidents
As a catastrophic injury lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen with over 25 years’ experience, I have dealt with a large number of road traffic crashes and other accidents that have led to catastrophic injuries, major traumas and fatalities.
I find working with the catastrophically injured and their families a privilege, helping them in their time of need to navigate the unfamiliar aftermath of such an unexpected and unwelcome major trauma.
I would of course rather that for the families involved, their loved one had not been catastrophically injured, suffered a major trauma or killed in an accident.
This is why I am proud to work for Hodge Jones & Allen – a firm which supports and works with charities like Brake, the Child Brain Injury Trust (CBIT), Headway, Limbless Association and Spinal Injury Association.
We share Brake’s vision for a “world with zero road deaths and serious injuries where everyone moves in a safe and healthy way, as part of our normal day”.
We support CBIT and Headway in providing emotional and practical support, not only for the children, young people and adults with an acquired brain injury but also their families to reach their full potential and to have the best quality of life possible.
Like, The Limbless Association we believe there is “life beyond limb loss” and “No Amputee Need Cope Alone”.
The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) campaigns, educate and supports people affected by Spinal Cord injury, to show that “an independent and fulfilled life is still achievable with paralysis”. Through the compensation claims process I hope to make this happen.
Getting the right advice
As a catastrophic injury lawyer it is my mission to ensure that anyone who is injured on the roads has access to expert legal advice. I work tearlessly to not only obtain compensation but also to ensure funding is available for early rehabilitation, support for the injured person and their family and to finance aids, adaptations, alterations and if necessary purchase of accommodation. Sadly, I sometimes deal with cases which have been dealt with by other solicitors who did not have the right level of experience to deal with such injuries or fatalities.
This can often lead to delays for the catastrophically injured person, often delays with respect to essential and effective rehabilitation and securing interim payments.
Rehabilitation
Early rehabilitation is key no matter what the injury be that a serious head injury or brain injury, amputation, spinal cord injury or any other major trauma.
This is the key focus of my practice. Due to my experience in the field I know which insurers to speak to and how to get early and effective involvement from them, by way of paying for private treatment for rehabilitation and early payments to ease immediate financial hardship.
Limb Loss – example of early intervention
As I have already said, while I would not ever wish a serious road traffic crash on anyone, it is important, to have the right solicitor who can use their experience to ensure your claim is handled correctly.
The loss of a limb will lead to a certain amount of financial compensation but we cannot ever truly put a value on the loss of a limb. Compensation will also be sought for the other losses which follow- such as future loss of earnings, care, home and car adaption costs, rehabilitation costs, and prosthetics.
It is the early access to good prosthetics which can really improve the quality of life of someone who has been involved in a road traffic crash and has sustained catastrophic injuries and limb loss.
It is usual that after the decision has been made to amputate (a decision which is never taken lightly in my experience by the surgeons) that there will be physical and psychological rehabilitation required in hospital. The injured person will then be discharged to a rehabilitation ward / hospital and then be offered artificial limbs or prostheses on the NHS.
These will be basic prostheses. As a priority, your catastrophic injury solicitor should approach the insurers of the responsible person and obtain early funding for the best available on the market.
It is not only access to bespoke prosthetics, which should reflect all aspects of the catastrophically injured person’s life prior to the accident, so specialist limbs to cover hobbies such as: running, swimming etc. The other major aspect is access to psychological support and counselling not just for the injured but for the family as well.
Help is always available from a range of professions and at Hodge Jones & Allen we strive to provide a client centred emphatic approach to show that there is “life beyond injury”. Please do not hesitate to contact our expert personal injury solicitors on 0330 822 3451 or request a call back for a free consultation.
Also, try our personal injury claims calculator to help you estimate how much compensation you could be entitled to claim.