Shane was healthy and worked very hard to provide for his wife and four small children. And every day he continued to work hard at his promising career to support his family. Until one day, a 16-year-old disregarded the stop sign and pulled out in front him. And because of that, Shane had to have his leg amputated and go through many months of rehabilitation. And because of that, Shane couldn’t work and worried how he would take care of his family. While Shane was recovering from surgery, going through painful rehabilitation, and worrying about how he would take care of his family, the parents of the 16-year-old were out buying their son a new car.
Serious Injury To His Lower Leg Results In Amputation
Shane was taken to the hospital with serious crush injuries to his lower leg. In addition, he suffered multiple other injuries, including a serious hand injury. Over the next few days, he underwent surgery to amputate his leg and repair his hand. After an extended hospital stay, he went through a long, painful rehabilitation process, including being fitted for a prosthetic leg and more rehabilitation to learn how to walk using his new leg.
Shane’s medical bills were much greater than the available insurance coverage since the at-fault 16-year-old’s parents carried very little liability insurance coverage. In addition, no one told Shane about the need for underinsured insurance coverage that would have helped him to protect his family and himself. At the end of the day, Shane’s medical bills were over $300,000
Until Finally… Shane Came To See Us
Shane was worried about how he would take care of his family, get back to work if they would have him, and pay his medical bills. Shane was simply looking for options so that his family and he could survive. We sat down and reviewed his very limited options.
The one thing Shane was insistent upon is that he did not want to sue this 16-year-old even though he caused Shane to lose his leg and to worry about his future as a provider for his family. Shane told me that he often thought about this young man and the pain he must feel. At the same time, this young man nor his family ever asked about Shane or even said that they were sorry.
I explained to Shane that the only way we could help him was to file a lawsuit and try to work with the medical providers to reduce his bills and his employer to see if they would help pay these bills. Shane reluctantly agreed because there was no other option for him to hopefully take care of his family. We filed a lawsuit.
And Ever Since Then… As Shane Said, “I’ll Be Better Than Okay”
Next, we had to deal with the massive amount of bills Shane was left to pay. First, we asked for waivers from Shane’s medical providers and insurance carriers, explaining there was not enough money and that Shane, and his family, needed some money just to survive. Our waiver request was denied, and we appealed that decision. Thankfully, the appeal was granted. In addition, Shane’s employer came through like a Champ. His employer took care of many of Shane’s bills.
We’re happy to have been able to help Shane and his family. Shane had enough funds to take care of his family until he recovered sufficiently to go back to work. His employer gladly took Shane back because of the hard worker and kind of person Shane happens to be.
The kind of person Shane happens to be is someone who thought first about the 16-year-old before he thought about himself. Although he preferred not to go through this litigation process, he did so in order to take care of his family. And best of all, Shane came to see me after he got his “new leg.” He had me watch him go down the hall and back on his “new leg.” That’s when he told me, “don’t worry about me, I’ll be better than okay.” And, he is.
