Hit and Run Accident Leaves 5 Year Old in Critical Condition

The Journal Star reports today on the shocking case of a 5 year old who was struck walking to the school bus in a Lincoln residential neighborhood. The shocking part of the case is that the offending driver fled the scene and then, apparently, filed a false report claiming his car had been stolen.

A 5-year-old girl was hit by a car and critically injured walking to the school bus Wednesday morning at 19th and Harwood streets. A witness said the girl’s mother and about 10 children getting onto the school bus saw the car hit the girl and the car drive away.

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A woman who lives in the neighborhood said she was on her porch when she saw the Taurus speed by, going maybe 40. And she saw the little girl take three steps out in front of a van parked against the curb.

The Scene“And the next thing I see her flying in the air and everything in her hands is everywhere,” the woman said. “And he just kept driving.” She said it was the most horrific sound she’s ever heard.

Rattled, she rushed inside to call 911 and said she’d just seen a speeding car hit a little girl.

About 10 kids had been waiting for the school bus at the corner saw it happen, she said. One little boy came up to her and said “He just kept going.”

“I will never forget that, ever,” she said.

Rescue workers took the girl to BryanLGH Medical Center West. She later was taken by helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, where she was listed in critical condition.

By late morning, the backpack, blanket and shoes sat on the pavement with markers around them, as police documented the scene.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to the negligence of another, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

Posted on May 23, 2007 in Auto Accidents
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The Devastation of Spinal Cord Injuries

In today’s Journal Star there is the moving account of Shannon Malloy who suffered an atlantooccipital dislocation or “internal decapitation” in an automobile accident.

As [Shannon's] head hit the dashboard, the force separated the skull from the spine. It’s not an uncommon injury, but it’s usually found during an autopsy. It’s similar to what Christopher Reeve suffered, only his was more severe.

Surviving a dislocated head, while still rare, has become more common due to quicker airway protection and better spinal isolation at accident scenes. More than 100 “decapitated” people may be walking around, according to medical literature.

What is Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don’t completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a few, many, or almost all of these axons. Some injuries will allow almost complete recovery. Others will result in complete paralysis.

Is there any treatment?

Improved emergency care for people with spinal cord injuries and aggressive treatment and rehabilitation can minimize damage to the nervous system and even restore limited abilities. Respiratory complications are often an indication of the severity of spinal cord injury About one-third of those with injury to the neck area will need help with breathing and require respiratory support. The steroid drug methylprednisolone appears to reduce the damage to nerve cells if it is given within the first 8 hours after injury. Rehabilitation programs combine physical therapies with skill-building activities and counseling to provide social and emotional support.

Reference: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website.

If you or a loved one have suffered a spinal cord injury due to the negligence of another, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

Posted on in Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Spinal Cord Injury
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Auto Insurers Play Hard Ball

From CNN.com:

If you are injured in a minor car crash, chances are good that you will be in the fight of your life to get the insurance company to pay all the medical costs you incur — even if the accident was no fault of your own. That’s what CNN discovered in an 18-month investigation into minor-impact soft-tissue injury crashes around the country. Those are accidents in which there is little damage to the vehicle and the injuries to people are not easy to see by the naked eye or conventional medical tools like X-rays.

Since the mid-1990s, most of the major insurance companies — led by the two largest, Allstate and State Farm — have adopted a tough take-it-or-leave-it strategy when dealing with such cases. The result has been billions in profits for insurance companies and little, if anything, for the public, according to University of Nevada insurance law professor Jeff Stempel.

Read the full article here.
If you have a dispute with your insurance company, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free.

Posted on in Auto Accidents, Personal Injury
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From offices in Lincoln, Nebraska, attorneys at Keating, O'Gara, Nedved & Peter, P.C., L.L.O. serve clients in Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, Omaha, Hastings, Norfolk, Fremont, Beatrice, Broken Bow, Valentine, Lexington, North Platte, McCook, Ainsworth, O' Neill, Wayne, Norfolk, Fairbury, Kimball, Sidney, Seward, York, Aurora, Columbus, and communities throughout Lancaster County, Adams, Buffalo, Custer, Gage, Hall, Lincoln and Red Willow Counties, and those injured in traffic accidents on Interstate Highway 80, and Nebraska state highways 81, 83, 183, and 281.