Compensation for Victims of Sports Related Head Injuries in New York
Finding professional legal help when dealing with sports-related brain injuries in the New York area.
There is nothing worse than standing by, helplessly, watching your child struggle either physically or emotionally. When a child or teenager suffers a brain injury as a result of a sporting incident, that period of helplessness can last a lifetime. New York traumatic brain injuries, even ones as seemingly innocuous as a mild conscious, can result in long-term difficulties, including changes in behaviour, difficulty controlling emotions, memory loss, impaired speech and language abilities to name just a few.
Startling Head and Brain Injury Statistics
Each year in the United States, an estimated 38 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports, exposing themselves to the risk of a sport-related head or brain injury. While such damage can occur in almost any form of athletic activity, the highest risk sports are contact sports, such as football, ice hockey, wrestling or boxing. Sports such as baseball, cheerleading, and equestrian sports also carry a moderate risk for participants.
Football is responsible for the highest number of concussions each year, due to the number of players. Often, injured players are not aware of the severity of their condition and will return to continue playing in the match, exposing themselves to even greater risk.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that children between the ages of nine and 18 suffer 96,000 concussions as a result of sporting accident head injuries every year. A subsequent article in the New York Times emphasised just how devastating such an injury can be in one so young, pointing out that, as the brain tissue is still developing, injury during this formative period can cause serious setbacks for that child, impeding their development throughout the rest of their lives.
Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury
It is commonly the most distressing aspects of traumatic brain injury that are the hardest to treat effectively. Often sufferers will experience problems controlling their temper and mood swings, managing stress, and with their memory and problem solving skills. The recovery process is long and arduous, draining both the resolve of the patient and the bank account of their parents. Some patients may wait years before they are even referred for specific types of treatment, due to the high demand and the time period involved.
Often the symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury, such as a concussion, are difficult to read and the sufferer may have to undergo a series of expensive tests and scans before an accurate diagnosis can be made. Also, because the symptoms are rarely overt or obvious to the naked eye, there is a certain amount of stigma to the illness and sufferers may be considered to be 'faking' the severity of their injury. Despite this, the effects of a sports-related brain injury can last forever. Concussions or other traumatic injuries to the brain can cause epilepsy and increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other brain disorders more commonly associated with old age.
Call a NY Sports Related Brain Injury Lawyer
While it is sometimes difficult to allocate blame within a sporting arena, if you or someone you care about suffered a traumatic brain injury because of a sporting incident that could have been prevented were it not for another person's negligence, you have the right to hold that person legally and financially responsible. To protect your rights, you should speak with the experienced New York head injury lawyers at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP at (212) 986-7353 as soon as possible.