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Celebrating and having fun is a major past time for many during their summertime vacationing on the Outer Banks. However, some can get carried away and have too much to drink Thanks to rigorous public health education promotions of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and other such groups, the percentage of car accidents due to driving while impaired has been greatly reduced. Unfortunately, it’s still an ugly reality that a few unlawful people still get behind the wheel if they have had too much to drink.
16, 567 car crash deaths were attributable to alcohol in the year 2000. That is 40% of all vehicle deaths for that year. The survivors of such accidents have a high likelihood of having traumatic brain injury. It’s an unfortunate statistic. When it happens, there can be a lot of symptoms and issues to deal with. The first thing to know is that you don’t have to go unconscious in order to have a brain injury. If you receive a blow to the head, there can still be a traumatic brain injury (TBI). But, what might you experience if this happens?
The first thing to know is that there are both short and long-term symptoms from TBI. The short-term symptoms can last from a few hours to a few weeks or even months, but they eventually go away. However, the long-term symptoms of TBI can last for years and even remain permanently. It is almost impossible to know which symptoms will stay with you until several months after the head injury accident.
One of the first symptoms that people often notice is they experience amnesia. In particular some people may find it difficult to even remember the details of the brain damage accident. This is because of injury to brain tissue and the trauma involved with a blow to the head. It’s also not uncommon for the person to have amnesia about events that took place just before the accident too. It all depends on how much trauma there is to the brain.
After a car accident, a person with TBI can feel very dizzy. They may even feel disoriented. The dizziness should eventually go away, but some people with TBI experience episodes of dizziness from time to time, depending on how serious the injury is.
One prevalent reaction to brain trauma immediately following an accident is being very nauseated and throwing up a great deal. So, in addition to being dizzy, disoriented and nauseated, the person may be very forgetful. In fact, memory loss is one of the most common long-term symptoms of TBI that results from a car accident.
Another example of a victim with TBI may say they not only feel dizzy and disoriented, but also can have a bad taste in her mouth and tinnitus–or ringing in the ears. The tinnitus may stay around for awhile, but the bad taste, dizziness and disorientation eventually can fade away.
Of the numerous men and women who’ve survived a car accident and have been diagnosed with TBI, the most common problems were severe headaches, memory loss and sensory changes. Some people have even experienced blurred vision. There is a case that involved a construction worker who fell twenty feet and ever since his construction accident he’s absolutely had no sense of smell or sense of taste. To be sure having or experiencing traumatic brain injury is a major disruption to a loved ones life. The costs of such ongoing care and debilitating injury are enormous.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices ) edits the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard injury law blog as a pro bono service to consumers. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY, who handle car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more.
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