A slip, trip, or fall typically doesn’t sound like anything major. After all, how many people have tripped or slipped in their lives, and nothing ever came from it because they weren’t hurt from it? Ideally, it would work out the same way for everyone that every slipped or tripped, but that’s unfortunately not always the case. Some slips and trips can result in serious injury, especially if a major bone was broken, or there was injury to the head or spine during the fall.
Below are the four most common injuries suffered in New York City slip, trip, and fall accidents:
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs): Often in slips and falls, a person’s head can fall as well, and hit the pavement, concrete, or other hard surface. These brain injuries can be somewhat minor, such as a small concussion, or they can be major, including severe brain damage. A TBI caused by a slip, trip or fall can greatly affect a person’s quality of life, as they may need extensive rehabilitation and possibly even lifetime care.
• Back and spine injuries: There are so many things that can go wrong with the back and spine during a slip and fall – or even just trying to stop yourself from slipping and falling. These injuries include slipped disks, broken backs, twisting of the spine, or a strained lower back, to name just a few.
• Broken hips and/or pelvis: Breaking a hip or pelvis is very easy to do during a slip, trip or fall, because the impact of the fall can be so severe. The elderly are especially prone to this type of injury due to the fact that their bones may be more brittle and prone to breakage. Broken hips and pelvises also require a great amount of care, often needing surgery and a long recovery time.
• Torn ligaments and tendons: When a person reaches out to stop themselves from tripping, slipping, or falling, it can cause great stress on their tendons and ligaments and cause them to stretch and tear. Physical therapy is really the only treatment available, even though some patients may never regain 100% function in that tendon or ligament, and the recovery process is again very long.
Slips, trips, and falls may not sound like anything serious, but at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, we know better. We’ll let you focus on your recovery while we work to find out who’s responsible and get you the compensation you deserve. Don’t settle for thinking slips and trips are a part of life. Call us today and we’ll help you through this process, and get you the compensation you deserve! We can be reached at (212) 986- 7353.