While reading the recent interview by Liam Neeson about his wife’s tragic death in a ski accident, I couldn’t help wondering if she had been wearing a helmet would she still be alive today? His young wife was pulled off of life support after suffering serious head trauma at a Canadian ski resort. The tragic story highlights that brain injury can happen to anyone, at any place at any time.
I was recently on a ski trip with my family at Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia (WV) and I can’t imagine losing them in such a way. My thoughts go out to Neeson and all other families who have lost loved ones from head injuries. Children are especially vulnerable to brain injuries as their brains are still maturing. A new study conducted by the Brain Injury Association of South Carolina has found that 20 percent of all child head injuries take place during recreational activities. These activities include organized sports, playing outdoors, swimming, and riding bicycles.
Parents can combat this risk by having children wear a helmet. Ski helmets could prevent or reduce the effects of 50 percent of head injuries suffered by children under the age of 15 while skiing or snowboarding, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Just like in the case of Natasha Richardson, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not easy to spot right away. It’s not like a broken leg or shattered pelvis where the pain is immediate and noticeable. The effects of a TBI are rather subtle and may take days or even weeks to recognize. This is because it’s exclusively an internal disturbance and reveals itself in common pains such as a headache, backache, or feeling fatigued, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
As an injury lawyer who works for a firm that represents people who’ve suffered a TBI, I recommend a simple policy: if you’ve suffered an injury where you were knocked in the head, visit your doctor.
CA
About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, whose attorneys work out of offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, Eastern Shore Virginia Injury Attorneys Blog and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
Comments for this article are closed.