During the long, cold winter months, many people across the GTA can be the unsuspecting victims of slip and fall accidents. In Richmond Hill, slip and fall accidents often occur while people are performing the most routine activities. If patches of slick black ice are improperly cleared and if snow is allowed to accumulate in dangerous levels, people can be injured while returning to their cars in a parking lot, entering and exiting commercial or residential buildings, or simply walking down the sidewalk.
Wintertime slip and fall accidents can result in unnoticeable injuries. Some accident victims may experience bruising, scrapes, swelling, and other relatively minor physical ramifications. However, depending on a number of factors, wintertime falls can cause accident victims to sustain severe injuries that could permanently affect their overall quality of life.
As it so happens, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, accidental falls are the most common cause of hospitalizations and emergency department visits in all of Canada. While the severity of injuries sustained in a wintertime slip and fall could largely depend on the accident victim’s age and physical condition, anyone can be seriously affected by an accident caused by improperly cleared ice or snow.
Recovering from serious injuries sustained in a wintertime slip and fall can be a prolonged, complicated, and expensive process. Depending on the type of injury and its severity, accident victims may experience adverse side-effects for months, or even years after their slip and fall.
Some common wintertime slip and fall injuries sustained by accident victims in Richmond Hill and the surrounding GTA include:
Brain Injuries and Concussions
When an accident victim slips on ice or snow and falls to the ground, the impact could force their brain to collide with the interior of their skull. The resulting traumatic brain injuries and concussions can have serious consequences, especially for injured accident victims who do not seek immediate medical attention. Traumatic brain injuries are the leading cause of chronic disability across the nation, as well as the leading cause of death in people under the age of 35.
The repercussions of even a mild brain injury or concussion can be physical, cognitive, and behavioral. Severe brain injuries can cause permanent impairment which, in many cases, prevents injured accident victims from continuing to work. Additionally, those afflicted with serious brain injuries may find their interpersonal relationships strained because of persistent mood swings and newly developed aggressive or erratic tendencies.
Spinal Cord, Back, and Neck Injuries
Wintertime slip and fall accidents could have drastic, permanent consequences if an accident victim acquires spinal cord injuries. Since the spinal cord acts as a kind of superhighway from the brain to other parts of the body, injuries to the spinal cord could impede important neurological impulses. Depending on the severity of their injury, accident victims could experience partial or total paralysis. The negative impacts of sustaining spinal cord injuries are usually physical, psychological, and financial. In fact, the estimated lifetime economic burden sustained by people with traumatic spinal cord injuries is between $1.5 million and $3 million.
People injured in falls on ice and snow might also sustain various additional injuries to their neck and back, often resulting in chronic, persistent, debilitating pain. These injuries may include slipped discs, herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, and soft tissue injuries.
Orthopaedic Injuries
Broken and fractured bones and other musculoskeletal injuries sustained as the result of a wintertime slip and fall could have serious implications for accident victims, especially if they are senior citizens. Slip and fall accidents are the country’s leading cause of injuries sustained by seniors that require emergency treatment or hospitalization.
When senior citizens in Richmond Hill slip and fall on ice or snow, the orthopaedic injuries they sustain could have profound effects on their lives. Injuries to the hip and knees often require complicated, invasive surgeries. Even after receiving their necessary treatment, injured seniors could require the use of ambulatory assistance, or lose their mobility altogether.
How Blackburn Lawyers May Be Able to Help
In Ontario, property owners and occupiers are responsible for regularly maintaining their premises to reduce the risk of accidental injuries. If the people responsible for a property’s upkeep fail to fulfill their duty of care and an accident occurs as a result, they may be considered negligent.
At Blackburn Lawyers, our Richmond Hill slip and fall lawyers are committed to helping people who have sustained serious injuries because of someone else’s negligence. If you were injured because of insufficiently cleared ice or snow on or around someone else’s commercial or residential property, our personal injury lawyers may be able to help you get the financial compensation you deserve.
In Ontario, people who have been injured in accidents caused by ice or snow have only a very short time in which to act. To discuss your case with Blackburn Lawyers, do not hesitate to contact us by calling 905-884-9242.
* Please note that the information in this article is not intended as legal advice, but rather as a general overview on the subject. If you are seeking legal advice, please consult with a lawyer.
