Your child’s life was not supposed to be this way. A serious accident on a playground led to the deprivation of oxygen to her brain. The result: a lifetime with a disability, around the clock care and permanently relying on a wheelchair. In addition, your family faces a lifetime of financial struggles.
A brain injury does not always originate with a blow to the head. Deprivation of oxygen can lead to serious and life-changing injuries. Without oxygen, the brain cannot perform the most basic functions that control speech, memory, thoughts and movement. Suddenly, an avoidable accident has led to hardship for your family.
Brain function severely limited
Oxygen deprivation to the brain can occur in a number of situations. They may include in a near-drowning incident at a neighbor’s or hotel’s pool, electrocution from downed power lines, getting one’s neck entangled in equipment leading to choking, or even a tight umbilical cord wrapped around a child’s neck during childbirth.
Here are some of the long-term effects caused by oxygen deprivation:
- Certain areas of the brain sustain damage. Depending on the area of the damage, different functions can be severely affected. For example, a child may be unable to speak.
- Permanent memory loss and the inability to learn new information. A child may no longer recognize the faces of loved ones and the names of people as well as things about themselves.
- Motor skill impairment. Since parts of the brain coordinate movement, oxygen deprivation can damage the areas that control a child’s ability to walk as well as write.
In such tragic situations, negligence may have contributed to the accident. Liability issues come to the forefront as you and your family struggle to provide your injured child with as normal a life as possible. But now, things have changed. Not only do you need solace, but experienced legal advice, too.
