New Hampshire Brain Injuries Attorneys

Vehicle crashes are the number one cause of traumatic brain injuries. There are three mechanisms of injury:

1. Open Head Injury
2. Closed Head Injury and
3. Deceleration Injury.

Open Head Injuries involve any penetration of the skull. Closed Head Injuries would include hitting your head on the dashboard, airbag, window, or other solid object but without causing a puncture to the skull. A Deceleration Injury is often caused when a vehicle stops short. The brain is floating in a liquid in your skull. The laws of physics dictate that an object in motion will stay in motion. Therefore if you are driving along and have to stop suddenly, your brain is still in motion and is forced to slam into your skull.  As the laws of physics dictate, each action has an equal and opposite reaction, thus causing the brain to slosh back and forth within your skull. Very violent impacts can cause axonal sheering resulting in brain neurons dying.

Brain injuries often go undiagnosed at first as emergency services focus and treat the obvious injuries such as bleeding and broken bones. Unlike a broken leg, for example, which may prevent you from walking for a number of weeks, a brain injury cannot be seen by the people around you and therefore people expect you to function normally. However, change in brain function can have a traumatic impact of family, job, social and community interaction.

You can have a brain injury commonly known as a concussion. The symptoms may not show up for days or weeks after the injury. Symptoms of a concussion include headaches, vomiting, decreased concentration, loss of balance or dizziness, blurred vision, loss of sense of taste or smell, ringing in the ears, lack of energy, slowness in thinking, acting or speaking, confusion, and mood changes.

When loss of consciousness is less than 30 minutes, it is considered a mild brain injury. However, even mild brain injuries can have devastating effects on family members. MRIs and CAT scans are often normal but the brain injury manifests itself in cognitive problems, headaches, memory or attention deficits, frustration and mood swings. Since the person looks fine on the outside, they are expected to be their normal selves. When this does not occur, there is an increase in tension and issues within the family. Often the injured person is aware that something within themselves just isn’t right. They are often frustrated and short tempered as they try to deal with their loss.

Severe brain injuries are categorized as a loss of consciousness that lasts more than 30 minutes followed by memory loss. This includes comas. A victim of a severe brain injury may not ever recover. They may also require special care for the rest of their lives.

At the Law Offices of Edward F. Wallace, our attorneys are skilled in helping sufferers of brain injuries and their families deal with these devastating and dramatic changes. We provide referrals to resources to help families coping with the loss from a brain injury. Our office, in addition to getting compensation for the injured party, also files loss of consortium claims for the loved ones of the brain injured person. Since brain injuries affect so many aspects of daily life, often the family unit is significantly affected. One spouse may have to take on more responsibilities to make up for the lack of help from the other spouse. In addition, their relationship and intimacy may be severely affected. If work is affected the family could suffer a loss of earning capacity which may force one or more members back to work or impact the family’s finances significantly. Children may miss out on the opportunity to have a fully functioning parent in their lives. These are just some of the examples of loss of consortium.

With over 30 years of experience and specialized training in brain injuries, let us help you and your family.