Hello,
Yesterday my wife had a very unfortunate accident at an amusement type of place in major city. Don’t want to get into detail about it but essentially large glass door fell on her while walking through it and cut her arm very very badly. She had to be rushed to the ER and eventually needed surgery to repair her arm after the accident. I do not wish to seek out a lawyer but want to ensure her medical bills are taken care of, she is compensated for pain and suffering, as well as any other future potential issues with working (using her hands to type may be an issue). She would also do so many things at the gym which she may/may not be able to in future, etc. just everyday things are going to be hard for her now, and potentially in the future.
My question is: what should I be doing after accident such as this? The amusement park said they had written report, and I believe EMS also has report but I do not believe there is a police report. Is that needed? What should I be doing after this incident? Right now I have just been focused on ensuring my children (who were there and witnessed accident) are ok, and my wife is ok, etc. the park already reached out to me, but I told them we weren’t really in a good space to talk to them at all, and to call back later this week.
My wife is home and resting after a very long day/night with serious surgery on her arm.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by NJGarden
9 Comments
May I ask why you don’t want to hire an attorney ? The park and its insurance will try and screw you over, more than likely. When medical bills are involved and pain and suffering, I trust an attorney more than myself. I’m pretty damn savy, too, as my current attorney pointed out.
Retain an attorney. Don’t be foolish.
Get a lawyer, and get checked out for long-term injuries with a follow-up vidit or multiple. This is lawyer territory and you’re not gonna get what you want without without one.
Contact the park for their insurance info and file a claim to start
Take photos of everything. Every bandage change, every time you have to rinse or do anything with the wound. Ask if the ambulance or hospital staff took photos – if she went to a trauma unit, they probably did. Once she doesn’t have stitches/staples/dressings on it, I would probably take a picture every day until there aren’t a lot of changes then go daily.
Get a notebook and have her document everything she can’t do. Even the mundane things. She can’t load/unload the dishwasher, pick up the kids, walk the dog, take the garbage out, etc. write it all down. Even if she has to leave a kid’s soccer practice early. If your kids mention anything, write it down. You and your children will likely have loss of consortium claims (which is highly recommend you research). Depending on state, it might be a derivative claim and what can be pursued as far as damages might be handled out of a separate bucket than your wife’s injuries. Policy limits will also come into play with that.
Research trauma units in your local area, see if you can find out who their plastic surgery and scar specialist teams are, get a referral there.
Please please please document everything you possibly can. If she (or anybody) in the household feels that therapy would be helpful, do it.
There’s going to be a lot of money at play here. Just on the medical bill side. I would strongly encourage you to get some advice from an attorney. Not a billboard attorney with a massive firm, somebody that will put your family first and will make sure you’re all taking the steps necessary for your wife to get better and to accurately document everything.
Depending on the theme park, it could be an uphill battle. Disney is notoriously difficult to deal with. Outside of news headlines, I have had a few claims in my career where my insured was injured on a Disney shuttle bus. They were a nightmare to deal with. Disney also has the money to be a pain in the ass. If it’s a small local park, maybe it won’t be too bad.
I never say this. But get a lawyer. A real one and not an ambulance chaser.
Your wife is going to have tens if not hundreds of thousands of bills and potentially a permanent injury. You need help navigating all of this.
Edit. Everyone saying this is getting nuked. This isn’t a simple injury claim. ER visit. Surgery. Permanent scarring. Possible permanent reduced function. Again, get a real legit attorney. This claim doesn’t need inflated, it just needs an experts help.
This is one of the extremely rare posts on this sub where if it were me, I would lawyer up. Legitimate injury, possible negligence on the parks’ part and a real chance at collecting damages.
Most posts on here asking about a lawyer or suggesting a lawyer have none of those.
OP, I’d lawyer up
Make sure your wife is fine before worrying about suing someone
Hire a lawyer. This sounds like a great case and you will get far far far far more if a lawyer handles things. And stop posting about this topic on the Internet.