Student Files Lawsuit against School District for Brain Injury
Our Illinois injury attorneys recently read a report on CtPost.com about a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 14 year old girl who sustained a traumatic brain injury and memory loss after being struck in the head during her high school gym class. The injury occurred as a result of being struck in the head with a tennis ball during a gym class game of “tennis/baseball.” The game required that the students play baseball with the use of a tennis racquet and tennis ball in replacement of a bat and a baseball. The plaintiff contends that in a game that consisted of both upper and under-classman, the batter hit the ball as hard as he could –ultimately striking the plaintiff in the head causing severe brain injury.
The young woman’s neuropsychologist confirms that the 14 year old did indeed suffer traumatic brain injury including: permanent damage to the right hemisphere of the brain, persistent post concussion syndrome, contusion to the right eye, as well as, consistent headaches. In the lawsuit filed against the school district, the plaintiff is seeking $15,000 in damages to cover medical, hospital, and therapy expenses. The plaintiff’s lawyer asserts that school district’s gym teachers acted careless and negligent for allowing students to participate in such a dangerous game in the small confinement of half a gymnasium.
An injury to the brain of any sort can prove to be traumatic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a traumatic brain injury occurs when an injury to the head disrupts normal brain function. These sorts of traumatic brain injuries can range from “mild” being a brief change of mental status or conscious – or “severe” being an extensive phase of unconsciousness after the injury to the brain. The CDC confirms that a traumatic brain injury can cause many short term, as well as, long term effects. These effects vary from changes affecting memory, reasoning, communication, and even personality changes.
Our Chicago brain injury attorneys have helped the victims of traumatic brain injuries across the state seek legal compensation for the damages incurred. When someone suffers a brain injury as a result of another person’s negligence, the victim and their families have the right to recover economic and non-economic damages including: medical expenses, loss of wages, pain and suffering, disability, as well as, disfigurement.
