Personal Injury and Loss of Limb

When an accident or injury occurs, personal injury victims may face extensive financial losses, as well as significant physical and psychological trauma. Damages are likely to be particularly costly when an injury involves the loss of a limb.

The attorneys at McKinley, Conger, Jolley & Galarneau, LLP, serving Stockton, CA, and surrounding areas, can help victims of personal injury involving the loss of a limb hold liable parties accountable for injury damages, including monetary and non-monetary losses.

Causes of Traumatic Limb Loss

If an arm or leg is lost in an accident (as opposed to being removed during a planned surgical procedure), it is considered a traumatic limb loss. A traumatic limb loss may be caused by any number of accidents, but those that most commonly result in the loss of an arm or leg include:

• Automobile accident
• Pedestrian or bicycle accident (when the pedestrian or bicycle is struck by another vehicle)
• Power tool or machinery accident
• “Caught-between” construction accident (when a body part is pinned beneath or between heavy objects)
• Explosion
• Severe burns (including chemical or electrical burns)

Even if one of the abovementioned accidents doesn’t result in the immediate loss of limb, injuries may be substantial enough that they damage a limb to the point that it needs to be amputated. In cases like these, the accident is still the direct cause of the loss of limb, so the person or party responsible for the accident can be held liable for all resulting damages.

Monetary Damages

From a financial standpoint alone, injuries involving the loss of a limb are some of the most catastrophic for our Central Valley clients. Amputation injuries typically result in significant monetary losses, such as:

• Surgical costs
• Hospitalization fees
• Cost of a prosthetic limb (and any future maintenance or replacement costs)
• Inpatient rehabilitation fees
• Outpatient physical and occupational therapy expenses
• Loss of income (including the loss of wage-earning potential, if the accident victim cannot return to their previous line of work)

Non-monetary Damages

Non-monetary damages associated with the loss of a limb can be just as devastating, if not more so, than any financial losses related to the injury. First and foremost, the loss of a limb can be extremely painful. Accident victims deal with pain directly related to accident injuries, and the loss of a limb generally results in phantom limb pain as well. For years, or in some cases for the rest of their lives, amputation victims may experience sharp pain where the limb once was.

Emotional trauma is also highly likely after the loss of a limb. It can be trying coming to terms with an amputation and learning to adapt to a new way of life. Amputation victims may no longer have the physical freedom they did before, and they may have to give up habits or activities that previously brought them joy. Our Stockton attorneys take psychological suffering and diminished quality of life very seriously when considering loss of limb damages.

Contact Our Attorneys

If you’ve been in an accident that resulted in the loss of a limb, the attorneys at McKinley, Conger, Jolley & Galarneau, LLP, can fight to get you the financial compensation you are due. To discuss the details of your case with a member of our legal team, send us a message at your earliest convenience, or call 209-477-8171.