Victim of Rear-End Collision in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Left With Serious and Debilitating Injuries
As so often happens, drivers can be sitting at a red light, doing absolutely nothing wrong, and can end up with very serious injuries in a traffic accident.
This is exactly what happened to the victim in this Florida motor vehicle accident case. He was sitting at a red light on Alternate A1A in the left hand lane at the intersection of Burns Road, just waiting for the light to change, when the driver of a bus in the lane directly behind him (who was not paying attention and driving carelessly) failed to see him and crashed into the back of his vehicle. Fortunately, the victim was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash.
Upon impact, the victim experienced the immediate onset of pain in his neck. As a result, he drove to the emergency room at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center where he presented with symptoms including pain to the head, paresthesias around the mouth, arms and neck, along with neck pain. After undergoing a complete physical examination and diagnostic work up (including a CT scan of the head and spine), the emergency room physician diagnosed neck pain with probable cord compression and released the victim with prescriptions for pain medication, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories and instructions to follow up immediately with a physician.
Subsequently, the victim was seen by a neurosurgeon for continued pain in his lower back and neck. He also continued to experience numbness to the left side of his mouth and left hand. In addition, the CAT scan revealed a disc herniation at the C4-C5 level. Based on his physical examination and clinical findings, the neurosurgeon immediately ordered MRIs of the cervical and lumbar spine. Unfortunately, the MRI of the lumbar spine revealed a disc bulge at the L4-5 level as well as a L5-S1 central disc protrusion. More importantly, the cervical MRI revealed:
• Left paramedian annular tear at C6-7
• Central disc herniations at C2-3, C3-4 and C5-6
• Broad based disc herniation with cord impingement and central canal stenosis at C4-5
Needless to say, the victim (who has never experienced any significant neck pain or required any medical treatment on his cervical spine in the past) was absolutely devastated by the MRI findings. The neurosurgeon confirmed a diagnosis of mechanical low back and neck pain with cervical radiculopathy and noted a significant increase in the progression of the victim’s neck pain, headaches, and numbness into his right arm and leg. He also noted that the victim was in a severe state of inflammation and spasm and recommended continued and aggressive physical therapy and medications.
