Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog

Being in a car accident can be frightening, painful, and devastating. But sadly for accident victims, the actual “accident” is rarely the end of the story. More often than not, accident victims are forced to swim in a deep pool filled with calls from insurance representatives, questions from police, and added stress and pressure that can result from the loss of a car. All of this does not even include the pain and life-altering consequences involved with physical injuries.

Making the Victim Whole

Under Illinois law, accident victims are entitled to just compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon them. In fact, Illinois courts consistently state that accident and injury law is “concerned with making the victim whole by making the tortfeasor [person at fault] pay[.]” Kunz v. Little Company of Mary Hospital and Healthcare Centers. But when so much is going on after an accident, how can victims know whether they are being treated fairly or not? How can they know whether they are being offered the type of compensation that makes them whole? These are the types of questions every accident victim should be asking after an accident.

Athletes expect that their athletic trainers will be able to assess their injuries and look out for their best interests. In fact, under Illinois law, when a person takes a job in which they are responsible for providing a service to another person, and they fail to use reasonable care in carrying out that service, and as a result an injury occurs, that is enough to potentially hold the person liable in an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

As per a recent report by MSNBC, that’s exactly what happened earlier this month when a public school district agreed to pay a $4.4 million settlement to a former high school athlete who suffered a head injury playing high school football, and now must communicate through a keyboard. The facts in the case alleged that the boy sustained a concussion in an earlier game, but athletic trainers responsible for his care allowed him to participate with the concussion in a later game that caused his permanent injury.

At the time he was hurt, the young man was a high school senior and a linebacker on his school’s football team. He took a prior hit to the head, and, as per MSNBC‘s report, the team’s head coach ignored signs that he was in distress. According to deposition transcripts from the case, an assistant athletic trainer for the school reported that symptoms of a concussion were ignored; in the deposition, the assistant trainer said that, a week before the injury, the young man complained to the team’s athletic trainer about having headaches, which caused him to miss certain parts of practice, and that, just a few minutes before the game, the boy asked if he could sit out the first quarter because his head was hurting, but the coach refused to take him out of the game, reported MSNBC.

A confidential out of court settlement was reached last week in the personal injury case brought on behalf of the 13 year-old girl whose feet were severed while on a ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in June 2007. Kaitlyn Lasitter was riding the “Superman Tower of Power” ride, which lifted its passengers 177 feet before dropping them, reaching speeds over 50 mph, when a cable broke and severed her feet. Doctors reattached Kaitlyn’s right foot but they were unable to save her left foot. Instead, she was fitted with a prosthesis. She has since required four amputation surgeries and an additional surgery to repair a plate that connects her reattached foot to her leg and to insert genetically engineered bone. For six months she was unable to take any steps. She continues to suffer from pain and depression and the fate of her reattached foot remains uncertain.

The lawsuit alleged that Six Flags was negligent in inspecting, testing, maintaining and operating the ride. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
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