All spinal cord injuries should be taken seriously. Even the most minor can be life-altering. Many spinal cord injuries are fatal or lead to long-term disabilities.
That said, these injuries can be very different from one to the next. One factor to consider is simply the level at which the injury takes place.
For example, low tetraplegia is a spinal cord injury that happens between the C4 and the C8 vertebrae. This can lead to a loss of function below that level. It is a very serious injury, and it can cost over $760,000 in the first year – along with over $100,000 of subsequent annual costs.
On the other hand, high tetraplegia is between the C1 and the C4 vertebrae. The first-year costs for this injury can be over $1 million on their own, with around $184,000 of subsequent annual costs.
Age also plays a role
Another major component is the age of the person who suffers the injury. The younger they are, the more expensive that injury can be. The estimated lifetime costs for a low tetraplegia are over $2 million at 50 years old, for instance, but close to 3.5 million dollars at 25 years old. The lifetime cost of a high tetraplegia is around $2.6 million at 50 years old but jumps up to $4.7 million at 25 years old.
Of course, the specific cost is going to vary from one case to the next. But this helps to show how expensive a spinal cord injury can be and why injured parties need to understand all of their legal options to seek compensation.