80-year Old Man Has Two Cervical Fusion Surgeries After Rear End Crash Caused By Welding Truck

DISCLAIMER: The results are specific to the facts and legal circumstances of each of the clients’ cases and should not be used to form an expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client’s case.

Our client was an 80-year young man whose car was struck in the rear by a heavy welding truck on Highway 17-92, at its intersection with Lake of the Woods Road in Casselberry, Florida. The crash was significant and sent our client’s car careening into a wall surrounding the parking lot of a roadside drug store. The impact was sufficient to total our client’s virtually new Toyota Camry.

Our client was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. There was significant concern that a prior lumbar fusion surgery had been disrupted in this crash. He was checked over thoroughly and released.

Severity Of Neck Injury Was Not Immediately Appreciated

Over the next several weeks, our client began to develop debilitating neck pain, and his posture began showing significant changes. He began to develop a significant “stoop”, or forward bend, that made it virtually impossible for him to look up.

Our client’s orthopedic surgeon suggested trying cervical spinal injections. He tried them, but they offered only temporary, partial relief. Our client was next referred to a neurosurgeon, who examined him thoroughly and recommended surgery.

A Fusion Surgery — Followed By Another Fusion Surgery — Followed By Another Fusion Surgery

Our client had a cervical fusion surgery that actually had to be repeated three days later after he developed an agonizing brachial neuritis down one of his arms due to the placement of one of the original surgical screws. Eventually the arm went totally numb, so there was no avoiding the second surgery.

A few months later, our client had a thoracic fusion surgery to correct stenosis that has developed since the accident.

The Defendant in the case spent a lot of time focussing on our client’s prior injuries. He had had a lumbar fusion several years before this crash, had both knees replaced, and had had both hips replaced. This is a frequent strategy employed by attorneys who defend companies in civil claims. They try to blame current disabilities or impairments on anything else they can – even if they don’t make much sense.

Despite his age at the time of this accident, our client was an active man. He and his wife were very active in their church, and loved to entertain in their home. They regularly hosted church events and bible study groups. Our client enjoyed being outside and did his own yard work and maintenance around the outside of his home. He also enjoyed working in his wood shop, and even created and built a sign that used to sit in the yard in from of our prior downtown office!

After his surgeries, our client had great difficulty lifting, bending, twisting, and kneeling. HIs ability to stand for any period of time became very limited. He was worked very hard to ween himself from the very powerful drugs he had been given: Oxycodone and Tramadol. Importantly for our client, he can still attend church, and can even make his way to the alter of the church, kneel, and receive Communion.

At mediation, we were able to convince the Defendant to pay $437,500.00 to our deserving client.

Health Insurance Providers Have Rights, Too

Since our client was a Senior, a portion of his settlement was used to satisfy a lien that has been placed against his personal injury claim by Medicare. Many people do not realize that if Medicare (or most any other group health insurance program or company) pays accident-related medical expenses, the entity that pays the bills has a lien or right of reimbursement if the injured person receives any money as a result of a negligence claim.

One aspect of a our representation in any personal injury claim is handling resolution of the liens or reimbursements at the end of our client’s case, and making sure that all loose ends are tied up.

$437,500