Paralysis Injuries

What Is Paralysis?

Paralysis is the loss of strength and voluntary control over a muscle or group of muscles. It occurs when the communication system between your brain and your muscles breaks down. Normally, your brain sends signals through the spinal cord and nerves to tell your muscles to move. When any part of this relay system is damaged—whether it’s the brain, spinal cord, nerves, or the junction between nerves and muscles—those signals can’t get through, and paralysis results.

Paralysis is classified as either complete or incomplete. Complete paralysis means you have no ability to move the affected muscles and no sensation in those areas. Incomplete paralysis means you retain some muscle control or sensation, though movement may be severely limited.

The symptoms and severity of paralysis depend on where the injury occurred and how much damage was done. Because paralysis affects muscle control, it impacts far more than just movement—it can affect virtually every bodily function.

How Paralysis Affects Your Life

The loss of mobility is just the beginning. Paralysis can cause a cascade of other serious medical problems and life changes:

• Respiratory complications – Paralysis affecting the chest and diaphragm can impair your ability to breathe, requiring ventilator support or making you vulnerable to pneumonia and other respiratory infections.
• Cardiovascular problems – Blood flow issues, blood pressure irregularities, and heart rate changes are common. Blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) are a serious risk due to immobility and can be fatal if they travel to the lungs.
• Loss of organ and bodily functions – Many paralysis victims lose control of bladder and bowel functions, requiring catheterization and bowel management programs. Sexual function is often impaired or lost entirely.
• Muscle, joint, and bone changes – Without regular movement, muscles atrophy (shrink and weaken), joints stiffen, and bones lose density, increasing fracture risk.
• Skin breakdown – Pressure sores (bedsores) develop when you can’t shift position regularly. These can become severe, infected, and even life-threatening if not carefully managed.
• Temperature regulation problems – The body may lose its ability to regulate temperature properly, making you vulnerable to overheating or hypothermia.
• Chronic pain – Many paralysis patients experience nerve pain, muscle spasms, and other forms of chronic pain that are difficult to treat.
• Speech and swallowing difficulties – Paralysis affecting the vocal cords, throat, or mouth muscles can impair your ability to speak clearly or swallow safely, increasing choking and aspiration risks.
• Emotional and psychological impact – Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and adjustment difficulties are common. The loss of independence and dramatic changes to your life and identity take an enormous emotional toll.

Common Causes of Paralysis

Paralysis most commonly results from traumatic injuries that damage the spinal cord or brain:

• Motor vehicle accidents – Car crashes, truck accidents, and motorcycle collisions are leading causes of spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis. The violent forces can fracture vertebrae, sever the spinal cord, or cause traumatic brain injury.
• Slip and fall accidents – Falls from heights, slipping on wet floors, or tripping on stairs can result in spinal cord damage causing paralysis. Property owners who fail to maintain safe premises can be held liable.
• Workplace accidents – Construction site falls, industrial accidents, and other occupational hazards can cause traumatic injuries leading to paralysis.
• Sports and recreational accidents – Diving accidents, football injuries, and other high-impact sports can result in spinal cord damage.
• Acts of violence – Gunshot wounds, stabbings, and assault can directly damage the spinal cord or brain.
• Pedestrian accidents – Being struck by a vehicle can cause catastrophic injuries including spinal cord damage and traumatic brain injury.
• Medical malpractice – Surgical errors, anesthesia complications, medication mistakes, and other forms of medical negligence can result in paralysis.

Types of Paralysis

Paralysis is classified both by its severity and by which parts of the body are affected.

By severity:

• Complete paralysis – Total loss of muscle control and sensation with no recovery. The affected muscles cannot be moved at all.
• Incomplete paralysis – Partial loss of function where some muscle control or sensation remains or returns over time.
• Flaccid paralysis – Muscles become loose, weak, and shrink (atrophy) due to lack of use.
• Spastic paralysis – Muscles become tight, rigid, and experience involuntary spasms and jerking movements.

By location:

Paralysis can be localized (affecting one specific area) or generalized (affecting large portions of the body).

• Monoplegia – Paralysis affecting only one limb, such as one arm or one leg.
• Hemiplegia – Paralysis affecting one entire side of the body, including the arm and leg on that side. This often results from stroke or traumatic brain injury.
• Diplegia – Paralysis affecting the same body part on both sides, such as both arms or both sides of the face.
• Paraplegia – Paralysis affecting both legs and sometimes parts of the trunk. This typically results from spinal cord injury in the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions.
• Quadriplegia (Tetraplegia) – Paralysis affecting both arms and both legs, and potentially everything from the neck down. This results from spinal cord injury in the cervical (neck) region and is the most severe form of paralysis. It can affect breathing, heart function, and all organ systems.

The higher on the spinal cord the injury occurs, the more of the body is affected. Cervical injuries are the most severe, while lumbar injuries typically affect only the lower body.

The Lifetime Impact of Paralysis

Paralysis is a permanent, catastrophic injury that requires extensive, lifelong care and support:

• Immediate medical needs – Emergency surgery to stabilize the spine, intensive care hospitalization, and initial rehabilitation in specialized spinal cord injury units.
• Ongoing medical care – Regular appointments with neurologists, physiatrists, urologists, and other specialists. Management of complications like infections, pressure sores, and bladder issues.
• Physical and occupational therapy – Ongoing therapy to maintain remaining function, prevent complications, and learn adaptive techniques for daily activities.
• Assistive devices and equipment – Wheelchairs (manual or powered), vehicle modifications, home accessibility equipment, specialized beds, lifts, communication devices, and other adaptive technology. These are expensive and need replacement or upgrading over time.
• Home and vehicle modifications – Ramps, widened doorways, accessible bathrooms, lowered counters, stairlifts or elevators, and specially equipped vehicles. Many paralysis victims must move to fully accessible housing.
• Personal care assistance – Many paralysis patients require help with bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from bed to chair, and other activities of daily living. This may mean 24-hour care for quadriplegia patients.
• Medications – Ongoing prescriptions for pain management, muscle spasms, bladder control, infection prevention, and other issues.
• Psychological support – Counseling and therapy to help cope with the emotional impact of paralysis.

The costs are staggering—easily reaching millions of dollars over a lifetime. Most paralysis victims can never return to their previous employment and face a lifetime of financial dependence.

Compensation for Paralysis

Because paralysis is a catastrophic, permanent injury, compensation must account for a lifetime of needs:

• Economic damages – Emergency medical treatment and surgery, hospitalization and rehabilitation, ongoing medical care and specialist appointments, prescription medications, assistive devices and adaptive equipment, home and vehicle modifications, personal care assistance (potentially 24/7), lost wages and complete loss of earning capacity, and future medical needs calculated over your life expectancy.
• Non-economic damages – Physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and psychological trauma, complete loss of independence, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium (impact on relationships and intimacy), permanent disability and disfigurement, and profound reduction in quality of life.
• Punitive damages – In cases involving particularly reckless or intentional conduct, California courts may award punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar behavior.

Paralysis cases often result in multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements because the injuries are so severe, permanent, and expensive to manage over a lifetime.

Why You Need an Experienced Paralysis Attorney

Insurance companies know paralysis cases are worth substantial money, which is why they fight them so aggressively. They’ll dispute liability, argue that the paralysis isn’t as severe as claimed, or try to settle quickly before you understand the full extent of your future needs.

You get one chance to secure the compensation that will support you for the rest of your life. You can’t come back later for more money when you realize the settlement wasn’t enough.

Here’s what our Fresno paralysis attorneys do:

• Comprehensive investigation – We identify all liable parties and gather evidence to prove negligence caused your injury.
• Expert collaboration – We work with life care planners who calculate the lifetime costs of your care, economists who determine your lost earning capacity, medical experts who testify about your condition and prognosis, and vocational rehabilitation specialists who document your inability to work.
• Thorough damage calculation – We account for every expense and loss you’ll face over your lifetime—not just what you need today, but decades of future care, equipment replacement, home modifications, and medical treatment.
• Aggressive advocacy – We negotiate with insurance companies from a position of strength and are fully prepared to take your case to trial if necessary to get you the compensation you deserve.

Paralysis cases require specialized knowledge and substantial resources. We have both, along with over 50 years of experience handling catastrophic injury claims.