After suffering a head wound, the insurance company (or jury in a personal injury lawsuit) isn’t just going to take your word for it that you have a traumatic brain injury. You’ll need to prove what took place with specific evidence. The good news is that an experienced Virginia TBI attorney can help you gather those details. 
Evidence of the Accident and Who’s Liable in Virginia
Exactly how you prove there was an incident caused by negligent behavior varies between accident types. For instance, traumatic brain injuries are a concern in automobile crashes, slip and falls, sports mishaps, and injuries sustained at work or a job site. In any of those cases, the basic evidence you may need includes:
- Eyewitness testimony from anyone who saw the accident or can describe what led up to it.
- Images from the scene of the incident taken on your phone showing what occurred, such as the location of crash vehicles, conditions that instigated your slip and fall, and so on. In addition, you should take photos documenting your specific injuries.
- Other evidence your attorney needs to gather, such as “black box” data if you were hit by a truck driver. In some cases, you may also require records like employment data and medical documentation that could have a major impact on your case.
- A police report about the accident.
To get all those corroborating details, it’s extremely important to take the right steps following an accident involving traumatic brain injury. Specific steps victims should always take include:
- In a vehicle accident, contact law enforcement so an officer can document it.
- If you were hurt in either a private residence or public business, notify the property owner or on-duty manager.
- See a doctor as soon as you leave the scene. First, immediate medical attention can check for serious internal damage, such as a coup-contrecoup brain injury. It’s also important to create a paper trail starting with when the injury took place.
Evidence of the Severity of Your TBI
Proof helps demonstrate who’s liable for your injuries, and also details how the injury has interfered with your ability to live and work. Evidence critical to your TBI injury case includes, but isn’t limited to:
- A Glasgow Coma Scale assessment by a medical professional indicating if your brain injury was mild, moderate, or severe.
- Medical imaging showing the physical effects on your brain, such as a computerized tomography, intracranial pressure, or magnetic resonance imaging scan.
- Other medical records, like your doctor’s notes.
If your TBI is severe and has a major effect on your daily life, your compensation will likely be higher. It’s important to keep track of your symptoms and how they impact you. Specific symptoms vary depending on how your brain injury occurred, but may include:
- Anxiety
- Cognitive impairment
- Depression
- Dizziness and problems with coordination
- Emotional and behavioral changes
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Language difficulties
- Losing consciousness
- Memory loss
- Numbness in areas of the body and overall reduced physical strength
- Physical problems like seizures or inability to move specific body parts
- Post-traumatic stress disorder from the accident itself
- Vision impairment
- Vomiting and nausea
Treatment for these medical issues after a TBI is often extremely expensive. This is a problem if you can’t go back to work and earn a living after the injury. That's just one reason to talk to an attorney as soon as you can after suffering any kind of head wound.
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