Even a minor burn can be painful for days. If burned more severely, you face a long road to recovery that could include skin grafts, extensive pain, and disfigurement. Your rehabilitation will be expensive, and you may be unable to work. As frustrating as this dilemma is, it is worse if someone else’s breach of the standard of care caused your burns.
People should be held accountable for their actions. The consequences for their recklessness should include compensating you for your losses. If you are involved in an accident someone else causes, resulting in injuries from heat, flames, or chemicals, a Walterboro burn injury lawyer could negotiate with the responsible party’s insurance company or fight for a damages award in court. A catastrophic injury attorney could handle the legal work while you focus on recovery.
Degrees of Burn Injuries
The skin comprises three layers: the epidermis, or outer layer; the dermis, the second layer; and the fat layer beneath the dermis.
Burns that only affect the epidermis are usually painful, but after the redness subsides, the skin is intact. Second-degree burns harm the epidermis and dermis by causing swelling, blisters, and splotching of the skin. The pain is excruciating, and scarring is common. Third-degree burns, the most severe, reach the fat layer and turn skin black, brown, or white. These burns destroy underlying nerves and can result in numbness. The skin may never regenerate after third-degree burns. A knowledgeable lawyer in Walterboro understands the degrees of burn injuries and how they affect a person’s quality of life.
Common Accidents Resulting in Burn Injuries
The skin is the body’s largest organ, and extensive burn damage spread over the body can be deadly when the organ sustains unsurmountable damage. Even lesser burn damage can impact someone for years. Common burn injuries involving others’ negligence include:
- Gas-powered vehicles that ignite in an accident
- Commercial buildings with locked fire exits
- No fire alarms or fire extinguishers in commercial buildings
- Caustic chemicals mishandled on job sites or employers who do not adequately educate employees in their handling
- Defective products or components that explode or catch fire, such as lithium batteries in electric cars
- Faulty wiring in buildings or vehicles
A burn victim should not have to pay for someone else’s recklessness. A person should contact a well-informed attorney in Walterboro to determine if another’s carelessness caused their burn injury.
Negligence and Burn Injuries
Although people may not intend to cause burn injuries, they could be required to pay compensation to the injured parties if their breach of the standard of care results in harm. Under the law, all people owe others the duty to act responsibly, and if their actions fall below that standard, any resulting accident may be actionable.
For example, a reasonable apartment building owner would ensure all fire exits are lit and the doors are unlocked. If a fire breaks out, escaping residents rely on those actions. If the exits are not lit, and a person cannot find them in thick smoke, the owner acted unreasonably, causing harm to others. The building owner would not have harmed the residents if they could have exited the fire escape doors. A skilled lawyer in Walterboro will study the circumstances surrounding a burn injury to determine if a careless person is to blame.
A Walterboro Burn Injury Attorney Could Fight for Your Rights
Those who suffer emotional and physical trauma associated with burn injuries deserve empathy and understanding. The road to recovery is long and painful. You may be limited in what you can do, and you may not be able to interact with your family as readily as before. Whetstone Perkins & Fulda could help with the financial difficulties you face.
If someone else harmed you, we believe they should pay. Our attorneys are accomplished negotiators who are not afraid to say no if an insurance settlement is unfair. We can take your case to court and show a jury why you deserve fair compensation. Contact a Walterboro burn injury lawyer to discuss your claim.
