Types of Amputation Injuries
Amputation injuries are divided into two basic categories that include traumatic amputations and surgical amputations.
Traumatic Amputations
If you are injured in an accident and lose a limb or body part as a result, it’s a traumatic amputation. In some cases when the skilled medical team is able to work quickly, the lost body part can be reattached surgically.
After a traumatic amputation, surgery is generally required to address the victim’s immediate health and the long-term effects of the injury. Initial concerns include blood loss, shock, and serious infection. Long-term outcomes are generally based on the quality of early emergency and critical care management.
Surgical Amputations
If you suffer a serious injury that later requires amputation, it is a surgical amputation. These are generally based on trauma to the affected area that is so severe it causes extensive tissue damage, leads to severe infection, causes the victim to lose function in the affected area, or compromises blood flow. When the injured body part reaches the point that it becomes a liability, medical amputation is generally required in order to protect the victim’s overall health.
Causes of Amputation Injuries
Amputation injuries can be caused by virtually any kind of accident that involves significant impact. One of the most common causes is traffic accidents of all kinds, including car accidents and motorcycle accidents – as well as truck, bus, pedestrian, bike, ATV, and snowmobile accidents. Other common causes include slip and fall accidents, boating accidents, and dog bites, which can mangle the hands of victims.
If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident or any other kind of accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, you’re facing extensive medical needs that extend far into your future. And as a result, you shouldn’t wait to reach out for the skilled representation of a focused legal team.
Effects of Amputation on Daily Life
An amputation is a catastrophic injury in terms of how it affects your life and in the eyes of the law, which addresses the matter in the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. This fact translates to enhanced benefits for claimants who qualify. The effects of an amputation on your daily life are likely to be profound in a range of primary ways.
Career and lifestyle Changes
If your amputation injury affects your ability to do your job, your career and your earning power can be directly affected. If you’re unable to return to work at all, the consequences in this category of loss will be that much more dire. The fact that our careers are often closely associated with our sense of self means that career losses can also have a strong emotional component.
Emotional and Psychological Effects
The immense emotional effects of losing a body part are nearly impossible to overstate. You’ve lost a part of yourself as a result of someone else’s negligence, and this can be extremely difficult to come to terms with. Many victims of amputation injuries suffer PTSD-like symptoms that can include all the following:
- Increased anxiety or anxiety attacks
- Depression
- Sleep disturbances
- Difficulty concentrating
- Terrifying flashbacks of the accident
- Fear of getting back behind the wheel – when a traffic accident is the precipitating event
- A tendency to self-isolate
The loss of a limb is a constant reminder of what you’ve been through, which can make the injury all the more challenging to master emotionally. Ultimately, the immense psychological toll that an amputation injury can have on you should not be underestimated.
Lasting Physical Effects of Losing a Limb
To begin, amputation wounds can take months to heal, and long-term physical therapy generally begins soon after the accident victim is discharged from the hospital. Moving forward, many people who undergo amputations experience phantom pain, which refers to ongoing physical pain in the limb that’s been removed. The pain can be a shooting, burning, or itching sensation in the missing body part, and effectively addressing these phantom pains is medically challenging.
Amputations are also closely associated with a variety of dangerous complications and secondary health concerns. While the risk of serious complications is less pronounced in surgical amputations, the matter is relative, and both kinds of amputations carry serious risk. Primary risk factors include heart issues such as heart attack, serious infections, deep vein thrombosis, a slow healing process, and pneumonia.
Those who have suffered amputations related to lower limb loss are also more prone to falls, which are serious injuries in their own right and are closely associated with decreased participation in social activities as well as decreased confidence and emotional well-being. Upper limb loss can also affect balance, which can – in turn – increase the risk of falling that victims face.
In the end, the emotional and physical effects of amputations are intertwined. It’s difficult to separate the emotional and physical impact of a traumatic injury that is as stark as an amputation and that affects the victim’s quality of life so directly.
The Legal Process
Amputations are among the most challenging personal injury cases, which means the path forward toward fair compensation is complicated. Fortunately, turning to a trusted Eastern Ontario law firm that has extensive experience handling difficult insurance claims like yours can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.
While your claim is specific to your situation, there are some basic steps that are universally beneficial, and they begin with seeking the immediate medical attention you need. From here, you shouldn’t wait to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer who has reserves of experience successfully handling amputation claims like yours.
Your lawyer will build a strong claim on your behalf and will proceed with filing it with the involved insurance company. This begins the negotiation process, and your lawyer has the skill, experience, and legal knowhow to move your claim effectively and efficiently forward. Only if the insurance company isn’t interested in negotiating fair accident benefits will your legal counsel move forward by taking your case to the tribunal.
For your part, there are several things you can do to help protect your claim and your health, including:
- Carefully follow your medical team’s advice and instructions, which includes attending all follow-up appointments
- Work closely with your amputation lawyer from the start, and don’t share more information with the insurance company than you are advised to
- Stay off social media while your claim is pending
Understanding Your Rights and Options
After suffering an amputation injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, you have important legal rights. These include pursuing just compensation for your catastrophic injury in categories that include your medical expenses, your lost wages, and the pain and suffering that you and your family members experience – as applicable.
Because your amputation meets the catastrophic designation, you can seek enhanced benefits. These include medical and rehabilitation benefits, attendant care benefits, housekeeping and home maintenance benefits – as well as potential benefits for case management services.
Proving Liability and Seeking Compensation
A key component of every amputation injury claim is proving the at-fault party’s liability, which hinges on the evidence, and the same is true of seeking the compensation that you deserve. Your dedicated amputation lawyer will secure the testimony of specialists with expertise relevant to your claim, which is likely to include medical specialists and accident reconstruction professionals.
Proving liability and seeking just compensation go hand in hand, and your lawyer will spare no effort in this arena.
Negotiating with Insurance Companies
An important step in the legal process is negotiating just terms with the insurance company. Your lawyer understands how insurance companies operate and will do what it takes to help ensure a settlement that adequately addresses your full range of losses.
Benefits of Hiring an Experienced Amputation Injury Lawyer
The benefits of working closely with a resourceful amputation injury lawyer from the outset are considerable. One of the most important, however, is the peace of mind that comes from knowing your claim is in the capable hands of an experienced amputation lawyer who has a reputation for effecting advantageous outcomes.
How Our Ottawa Amputation Lawyers Can Help You
If you’ve suffered an amputation injury as a result of another party’s carelessness, the savvy amputation lawyers at Burn Tucker Lachaîne can help in a variety of important ways that include building a solid claim, skillfully negotiating with the insurance provider for fair terms, and being ready to take your case to court if the need should arise. We are on your side and here to help, so please don’t wait to reach out by contacting or calling us at 613-777-3301 and scheduling a free consultation today.
February 3, 2025 
Personal Injury 
