You cannot spend your life worrying about whether you will fall and sustain a brain injury while going about your business in New York, even though slipping and tripping hazards are everywhere around you. Fortunately, there are laws that require property owners to be responsible for the safety of those who visit. At Silver & Kelmachter, LLP, we often help our clients to hold property owners accountable for negligence that caused serious head injuries on their property.
Traumatic brain injuries are some of the most serious injuries that happen when people fall, and in fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, falls are the primary cause of TBIs. These injuries typically involve bruises and torn blood vessels inside the skull that interrupt the normal functioning of the brain. One of the initial indicators that you may have a TBI is a loss of consciousness. However, even if you only “see stars” or feel dazed for a few moments, you could have sustained a concussion, and even a mild concussion can result in a serious brain injury.
Perhaps after you fell you did not want to lie on the ground and attract attention while you assessed whether or not you sustained an injury. Getting up and going on about your business is a bad idea. A torn blood vessel or bruise to your brain may cause a headache at first, but as blood pools and tissues swell, pressure builds inside your skull. Two or three days or more may pass before you notice that your headache is getting worse instead of better, that you are unusually fatigued or you are having trouble concentrating. These are just a few of the possible delayed symptoms you may experience.
As soon as possible after the accident, take the time to seek medical attention. A doctor will check for signs of a TBI and will probably schedule you for a follow-up visit to make sure that delayed symptoms do not cause more serious injuries in the days and weeks following the accident.
More information about what to do after a slip- or trip-and-fall accident is available on our webpage.