Brain injuries, or head injuries, can be the most difficult injuries for the medical and legal professions to deal with. They are complicated and difficult injuries, which require specialized and immediate attention to ensure future care and treatment. Brain injuries can occur in many kinds of accidents where there has been trauma to the brain. There need not be a physical blow to the skull to cause trauma to the brain, so often there is no outside evidence of the trauma. A violent jerking of the head can cause a brain injury. Brain injuries can occur in car accidents, slip and fall accidents, in sport activities or anytime the head is jerked violently.

The outward evidence of a brain injury may be such symptoms as speech impairment, headaches, paralysis, seizures, or cognitive disorders such as difficulty remembering things, difficulty concentrating, a decrease in I.Q., mood swings, anxiety, depression among other things. Often these symptoms are not attributed to a head injury or the accident, even by the treating doctors. It is important to retain a lawyer experienced in head injury cases to make sure that the injured person gets the appropriate medical testing and treatment to either confirm or rule out a head injury after an accident.

Even when there is a firm diagnosis of brain injury the injured person often has difficulty with family members and work colleagues because of a lack of understanding of the injury, both on the part of the injured person and those who are in contact with the injured person. Often the first objective evidence of head injury is a sudden decrease in job performance, or school test scores. Often friends notice changes in behaviour. The proper medical testing can provide good evidence of a head injury.

Head injured people have been described as the ‘walking wounded’ because their injury is not readily apparent. However, a head injury can be more devastating to the victim than almost any other type of injury.

At Acheson Whitley Sweeney we have extensive experience in representing people with head injuries. We will assist in putting together a team of professionals, such as neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation workers, accountants and many other specialists, to assist the victims and their families. Our legal team will gather the evidence and present the case in order to maximize the compensation for the head injured victim.