Some crashes only lead to minimal property damage, but some cause catastrophic personal injuries. The faster vehicles travel on the road, the stronger the force of impact when they collide. In high-speed collisions, as well as crashes between vehicles of vastly different sizes, there is reason to worry about limb loss or amputation.
Car crashes are one of the top-reported sources of amputations in the United States. There are actually two different reasons that people might lose a body part following a car crash.
1. Traumatic amputation
The most obvious reason that a crash might lead to the loss of a body part is due to the traumatic injuries someone suffers in a wreck. Someone with their arm out of the window at the time of a crash, for example, could lose that limb. A traumatic amputation occurs during a crash and could lead to both dangerous blood loss and shock. The individual affected will also be at elevated risk of infection.
2. Surgical amputation
The extreme damage possible in a violent vehicle collision could require surgical amputation. A rollover crash, for example, could crush or otherwise severely damage bones, muscle and connective tissue. Sometimes, medical professionals recognize that it is not realistic to attempt to repair a body part after a major injury and will instead have to amputate it.
Both surgical and traumatic amputations can cost tens of thousands of dollars in surgical expenses and physical therapy. Oftentimes, the large bills attached to such care main necessitate compensation beyond what insurance will pay. Educating oneself about the injuries possible in a car crash can lead to better choices about insurance coverage and personal claims following a wreck.