Auto Accident
N/AOUTCOME: Case Settled for $450,000
Our client, 18 at the time, was operating a 1991 Chevrolet sedan in the right-hand, eastbound lane of Interstate 88 in Colesville, New York on the night of Feb. 11, 2007 with her father, sister and her ... sister’s son in the car. An 18-wheeler in the left-hand lane negligently merged into her lane. The tractor-trailer struck the victim’s driver-side door and forced her vehicle off the highway and into the woods. A rescue crew had to extricate our client from the tangled wreck, after which she was taken to an area trauma center where she remained for 11 days. The plaintiff was diagnosed with severe craniofacial trauma, multiple facial lacerations, a large, gaping laceration on her neck and a degloving eyelid injury. She sustained severe head, face and chest trauma, including a collapsed lung, blown-out eye socket, bleeding on the brain, nose, jaw and eye fractures and a severe concussion, among other serious injuries. During her hospital stay, our client was intubated and underwent a left tube thoracostomy and central line, followed by repair and reconstruction of her left eye socket and face. The surgeon noted that, during the repair and reconstruction, he spent several hours removing broken glass from the victim’s face. The plaintiff spent from Feb. 27 – April 18, 2007 in and out of hospitals for treatment and rehabilitation, including physical, occupational and speech therapy. During this time, she was also seen by the same surgeon who removed the glass form her face and performed reconstructive surgery to have hundreds of sutures removed. Since the accident, she has undergone a number of reconstructive and scar-revision procedures, has incurred more than $80,000 in medical bills and nearly $15,000 in lost wages.
