Clients often call us about “slip and fall” accidents, where they lose their balance and injure themselves as a result. Unfortunately, there is often no basis for a legal claim against the landowner where the client fell, as the client simply lost their balance. The reported injuries are often fairly minor. But sometimes a landowner knowingly maintained truly dangerous premises and the injuries are extreme. These latter cases make up the most serious slip and fall claims, especially when a traumatic brain injury or TBI results. A TBI can require a lifetime of care to deal with and can cost a person their savings, marriage, livelihood, and freedom.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Our brain floats inside our liquid-filled skull. The liquid serves as a shock absorber so that our brain does not slam against the inside of our skull every time our brain moves. While concussions are caused by the slight to moderate impact of the brain hitting the inside of the skull, a TBI is caused by the brain either severely impacting the skull or being injured by a foreign object penetrating the skull.
Symptoms of a TBI include loss of consciousness, convulsions, seizures, vomiting, headaches, slurred speech, confusion, difficulty waking up from sleep, difficulty focusing, and others. Anyone who experiences a fall that results in these symptoms becoming present within a few days should contact medical help immediately.
But can a simple slip and fall result in those serious symptoms? Yes. Believe it or not, your head weighs about the same amount as a bowling ball. It’s suspended five to six feet above the ground by your body. Tremendous force can be generated by your body whipping that weight to the ground. Your head moves at a high speed when you trip over a crack in the sidewalk and hit your head on a curb or slip on a soapy grocery store floor and hit it on a produce bin. Significant force is exerted on your skull when it impacts a foreign object. A TBI results from an extreme force being exerted on your brain by the skull wall or a foreign object penetrating the skull.
Do You Have a Viable Slip and Fall TBI Claim?
Slipping and falling does not create a negligence claim. Negligence is based upon an owner of the premises failing to meet a standard of reasonable care towards visitors on their property. The premises must be reasonably safe, but they do not need to be absolutely safe. So if a grocery store leaves soapy water on the freshly mopped floor and fails to notify shoppers of the soapy spot, it may be negligence. But just because you slip in a grocery store may not be negligence if the store would not have reasonably known that the slick spot existed. The key is that the owner of the premises where you fell must have known of a hazard or should have known of it; they cannot ignore hazards if they know of them or know they regularly occur.
Once negligence is established, compensation for a successful TBI claim can be significant. In part, that is because of the tremendous losses resulting from a TBI. Your damages will likely include medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of future earning capacity, loss of companionship, rehabilitation costs, and future medical expenses. Obviously, the amount you receive will depend on the severity of your injury, the degree of the other party’s negligence, and whether or not they are covered by insurance. If you are injured as a result of an uninsured, poor person’s negligence, you may be due compensation but sadly may get none.
A slip and fall injury or TBI claim requires an experienced personal injury attorney. Do not make any decisions or sign any documents until you speak with an attorney.
Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if a loved one has experienced a slip and fall injury.
Barrett Law has the experience to take on insurance companies and defense counsel that are focused on denying your compensation for the harm you experienced. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
