Driver’s Failure To Stop At A Stop Sign Results In Major Injuries To Toledo Resident
On a summer afternoon, our client was traveling in Toledo, Ohio, at a speed of approximately 40 mph, when another driver failed to stop for a stop sign causing our client to smash into the side of the other vehicle. The airbags deployed in our client’s vehicle striking her in the head and the face. Our client was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was diagnosed with having fractures to her third through sixth rib on the left side, fractures of the third through seventh rib on the right side, fractured sternum and a displaced nasal fracture. Further imaging revealed a right ankle and right heel fracture. Due to extensive injuries our client was then transferred to a different hospital for trauma consultation. Following the collision our client underwent extensive surgery which included implanting hardware to her right ankle.
In addition to the direct injuries from the collision, our client also experienced several complications relating to pre-existing conditions. Over time our client suffered infections as a result of aggravation to a pre-existing implanted medical device. Consequently, our client was diagnosed with numerous ailments including pneumonia, osteomyelitis, abscess of her first rib and sternoclavicular joint, sepsis, and respiratory failure. Infectious disease had to perform emergency surgery to drain the abscess in her chest wall. She was admitted to ICU and given a PICC line to administer antibiotics. She nearly died as a result of the sepsis and respiratory failure. She later developed lymphedema as a result of her history of osteomyelitis surrounding the sternoclavicular joint and the first costochondral junction which required hospitalization at the University of Michigan.
In total our client underwent five surgical operations. After all the treatment our client was still left with continuous pain, swelling and extensive scarring. Post-accident our client spends most of her days living in a recliner, relying on her husband for financial and physical support. For quite some time after the collision, our client’s husband was required to provide round the clock care to our client, forcing him to take leave from work. The effects of the collision placed a great deal of stress and financial burden on our client’s marriage and household.
Our office filed suit in the Lucas County Common Pleas on behalf of our client and her husband which included a spousal loss of consortium claim due to the strain that the collision put on their marriage. Our office prepared extensively to take this case to trial, however at a last-minute mediation our office resolved this case resulting in a large settlement for our client.
