A frightening car crash on a Kentucky highway or city street can leave multiple victims with serious injuries and long, painful recoveries ahead. You could be thrown into an airbag, a steering wheel, or a car door and suffer a severe chest injury. In some cases, the sternum, also known as the breastbone is fractured.
These chest injuries can leave victims in pain and severely restricted in their movements. Car accident victims must focus on healing, but they’ll also need to demand fair recovery support from an at-fault driver and the driver’s auto insurance provider.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Kentucky Traumatic Injury Accident Lawyer
A sternum fracture suffered in a car accident might leave victims unable to move freely, hold their children, or go to work. Victims can take months to heal and regain their freedom.
After being forced into a frightening Kentucky car collision and suffering a chest injury, you should never have to face the expense of recovery alone. To make sure you aren’t held responsible for the costs of your comeback from a sternum break, contact Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, of Kentucky.
We offer a free, no-obligation case consultation to all Kentucky car accident victims. It’s an easy, no-risk way to understand the injury benefits available to you and how to secure those benefits from an unhelpful car insurance company.
Sternum Fracture Dangers in Kentucky Car Accidents
The sternum is the long bone running down the center of the chest. Healthline explains that the breastbone is attached to the ribs by cartilage. It holds together the front of the ribcage to safeguard the heart and lungs.
One of the most debilitating results of a broken sternum is the effect it can have on the victim’s ability to breathe. The sternum and the rib cage expand and contract with each breath. A fracture can make this process you usually wouldn’t even notice extremely painful. Things like coughing and laughing become unbearable.
There are other injuries that are often suffered in an impact that targets the upper chest. Doctors look for these and other associated injuries:
- Rib fractures.
- Flail chest. When a series of ribs are fractured, each in more than one place.
- Myocardial contusion. A bruise on your heart muscle.
- Lung contusion.
- Intra-abdominal injuries.
- Cartilage tear.
- Spinal compression fractures.
A study in the National Library of Medicine found that an estimated 60 to 90 percent of broken sternums are the result of traffic accidents. The victims usually strike the steering wheel to cause a breastbone fracture and associated rib injuries. However, cyclists and motorcyclists are also vulnerable when they are thrown from their bikes in accidents. Pedestrians are at special risk of many types of chest fractures when they are struck by a vehicle.
After a sternum injury on busy interstates like I-75 or I-65, or on a city street in Louisville or Lexington, contact a Kentucky traumatic injury lawyer. Make sure you know what your injury will require as far as care and expense before you allow a car insurance company to decide what you should receive.
Compensation Available After a Sternum Fracture
Broken sternum and other chest injury patients may need care far beyond an emergency room visit and a return check-up with a doctor.
Recovery from a breastbone fracture on average takes a little over three months, but that’s with normal cases. A break that requires surgery can take many more months or years to recover from. Victims can experience pain in their chest area for a lifetime in some cases. Of course, the costs for all of this care can run into tens of thousands of dollars. These are bills that should never be left in the lap of an innocent victim after a car crash.
A sternum fracture Kentucky car accident lawyer would work to document every hardship the patient has faced and will face in order to maximize the settlement check a victim received.
These are a few of the factors that can earn you financial support:
- Past and future medical bills. Money for physical therapy costs as you try to regain flexibility in your sternum and ribs.
- Lifelong support for a permanent disability.
- Compensation for the emotional and physical pain you’ve endured.
- Travel costs while you may be unable to drive to hospital appointments.
- Compensation for your lost benefits and income while out of work.
- Reimbursement for personal property damage and car repairs or replacement.
Contact a Kentucky Car Accident Sternum Fracture Lawyer
If you or a loved one have suffered a broken breastbone due to a driver’s carelessness, don’t feel like you must cope with the pain and the financial burden of care alone. Kentucky accident victims have up to one year to file an injury claim with a car insurance company. It’s always best to act quickly. Acting immediately gives your attorney the best chance to build a strong case for you.
Schedule a free, no-obligation case review today with a Kentucky Car Accident Lawyer you can trust to be on your side and fight for your fair compensation. You’ll speak with a real Kentucky lawyer at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC. If you decide we can help you earn the most for your chest injury claim, you won’t need any money. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you.
