Teen cyclist still recovering from traumatic brain injury

A traumatic brain injury occurs when an external force causes brain dysfunction. It usually results from an individual receiving a violent blow — or jolt — to the head or body. When a Maryland resident receives a mild traumatic brain injury, this may cause a temporary dysfunction of the victim’s brain cells, while a more serious injury may result in torn tissues, bruising, bleeding and other physical damage to the brain that can result in either long-term complications or death.

An out-of-state girl was involved in a bike accident with a car that left her with a traumatic brain injury. The driver of the car reportedly took her eyes off the road for a brief moment to look at a street sign, and as soon as she looked back, she felt the force of the girl striking the car’s windshield. The girl’s forehead crashed into the car’s windshield, and she then went airborne, flying above the vehicle before landing on the road.

There she lay unconscious as her body, which was badly battered, gasped for air. She was airlifted to a trauma center. The accident resulted in her being unable to either speak or open her eyes normally. However, she was very lucky in that, unlike most outcomes of similar accidents, she was not paralyzed.

Although bicycle accidents do not occur as frequently as car accidents, the injuries are often far more serious. When a person in a car is in a wreck, most insurance covers a wide range of treatments. However, if a cyclist is involved in an accident and he or she does not have good health insurance, the victim might be in a lot of financial trouble. When Maryland residents are seriously injured in accidents in which they suffer traumatic brain injury, they typically consult experienced personal injury attorneys as quickly as possible.

Source: summitdaily.com, “17-year-old Breckenridge cyclist recovering from traumatic brain injury“, Ben Trollinger, July 14, 2016