Neck Injury / Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Substantial Resolution In Case Rejected By Other Attorneys

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is triggered by a traumatic event. It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to an extreme psychological trauma. People can develop post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing or witnessing an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror. People who are involved in traumatic events often have a period of difficulty in adjusting and coping with such events. While such problems are often temporary, for some people, the symptoms get worse and may last for months or even years. As with many other psychological disorders, you cannot look at a person and know that he or she suffers from PTSD.

Our client, a 34-year-old commercial truck driver, developed post-traumatic stress disorder following two unusual and fortuitous motor vehicle collisions.

In the first, our client was transporting a large, prefabricated home in the course of his employment. A strong gust of wind flipped the prefabricated home over and, in turn, caused the cab to overturn and trap our client inside.

Months later, again while driving in connection with his employment, our client was injured when a flatbed trailer being pulled by an oncoming vehicle came unhitched, careened across the highway median and overturned. When it flipped, a John Deere lawn tractor on the trailer went airborne, hit the side of an oncoming truck and then ricocheted head on onto the hood of our client’s truck. The resulting wreck caused a significant neck injury as well as severe post-traumatic stress disorder that ultimately led to him being unable to continue driving commercial vehicles for a living.

When initially seeking legal assistance, our client was discouraged from pursuing his psychological injury and was told that a jury would find it hard to accept that a large strong man such as himself developed severe psychological injuries that resulted in his inability to continue driving for a living. He then sought our assistance.

Following extensive work up of his physical and psychological injuries, the work injury and civil liability claims were successfully resolved with a substantial payment being made.