ILO Members serving Thunder Bay

We Are Experts in Representing Victims of Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries in Thunder Bay and throughout Ontario can be the most debilitating of all catastrophic injuries since the loss in the use of one’s arms and/or legs has such a significant impact on our ability to function normally. Those who have never experienced such injuries may think that they can imagine life without walking or being unable to feed oneself, but the reality of such injuries is beyond most people’s capacity to truly imagine. One of the most heavily publicized total quadriplegic/paralysis injury cases is that of Christopher Reeves, star of the Superman movie series. As many viewers saw on television and read in magazines, Reeves had a head first fall off a horse, not unlike diving into a shallow body of water, and broke his neck. As a result of the fall, Reeves was unable to ever again walk, use his arms or hands or even breathe on his own. He was totally reliant on the care of others for the remainder of his life, and the years of that care depleted his financial resources accordingly. 

Not every spinal cord injury victim in Thunder Bay has the financial resources to pay for the significant amount of financial support a spinal cord injury patient will require for the rest of their lives. While becoming quadriplegic is the most tragic of all, breaking your back and becoming paraplegic, i.e. losing the use of your legs, is also clearly a catastrophic injury. Injured parties may be left with an inability to do the work for which they were trained or educated and, in many cases, may no longer be able to support themselves.  Victims of spinal cord injuries suffer from a permanent financial disability, particularly when compensation for the injury is not obtained or available.

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (SCI Ontario) is an advocacy organization for people living with spinal cord injuries. Their studies estimate that the cost of spinal cord injury to the Canadian health care system can be "between $1.25 million and $25 million over an individual’s lifetime depending on the severity of injury." The organization also states that, in Ontario, over 40% of all catastrophic injuries due to spinal cord trauma are the result of motor vehicle accidents. While our ILO Thunder Bay law firm represents individuals who have suffered personal injury due to any act of negligence, spinal cord injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents far outweigh other spinal cord injuries such as those that occur from playing sports. 

There are numerous ways in which a person may experience a spinal cord injury that results in either partial or total paralysis. As a pedestrian you could be struck by a motor vehicle. As an automobile driver or passenger,  you may be involved in a collision with another car or truck, an inanimate object like a tree, or even a bus or 18-wheeler. Bicycle and motorcycle drivers are particularly vulnerable when colliding with a larger vehicle. Almost any time we are traveling at a high rate of speed and suddenly fall and strike our head, we run the chance of breaking our neck and becoming permanently paralyzed. 

If you have been injured and have endured a traumatic spinal cord injury, call our ILO Thunder Bay spinal cord injury lawyers today. Your ILO personal injury law firm has the necessary experience, resources and track record to effectively represent spinal cord injury clients in achieving the compensation they require and deserve. If you are unable to visit us in our office, we can meet with you in your home or in the hospital.