- Our client, a lady in her mid-forties, was walking down James Street with her fiance in downtown Seattle heading for the Ferry Teminal with the intention of taking a scenic ferry ride across Puget Sound to Bremerton. Suddenly a large truck came careening down the hill, slammed into several parked cars causing one of the cars to burst into flames. Several other cars then caught fire.
- Our client ran down the hill to get away from the truck and the flames. She lost her balance and slammed into a nearby building.
- A television news report on this accident was shown on KOMO 4 news.
- Although mentally distraught, she decided to make the planned ferry trip to Bremerton, hoping that it would help calm her mental state. It is about a three hour round-trip. By the time she got back to Seattle she was in severe pain. She was also experiencing nausea, anxiety, vomiting, crying and an asthma attack.
- She went to the emergency room at Northwest Medical Center. She was treated for her back pain with a narcotic injection and advised to return to the ER if she experienced increased pain.
- The next day she did experience increased pain and returned to the Northwest Medical Center ER. She was again treated for her low back pain and instructed to follow-up with her primary care doctor.
- She returned to the ER at Northwest Medical Center with sharp lower back pain radiating down her legs and reporting that it was painful to walk. The doctor suspected myofascial pain or possible herniated disc. She was discharged with pain medication.
- She reported to the ER at Highland Medical Center. Her pain level was 7/10. Radiology reports indicate disc narrowing at L2-3, anterior osteophyte at L3, arterolisthesis at L2, sclerosis and hypertrophy at L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1.
- She was back in the ER at Northwest Medical Center a few weeks later for severe low back pain. This time she was referred to a neurosurgeon for evaluation for possible low back surgery.
- She was finally able to get an appointment with her primary care doctor who noted leg weakness and shooting pains into the legs. She also reports that when she coughs it feels like she’s been “tazed”, pain shoots across her hips, her legs feel frozen and give out and pain shoots down both thighs. She was referred her for physical therapy.
- Physical therapy started about eight weeks after the accident. Her pain level was noted at 7/10. She continued with physical therapy for three months. The PT notes document the continuation of her pain, muscle spasms and radiculopathy throughout this period.
- Although she had pre-existing lower back conditions, the records make it clear that these conditions were exacerbated by the accident.
- She also had preexisting anxiety problems which were exacerbated by this accident with PTSD symptoms.
- The case proved difficult as it appeared our client never had any physical contact with the truck that caused the accident, or any other object projected by the truck. We were finally able to determine through video footage and medical reports that she was struck on the ankle by an object from one of the exploding vehicles.
- Another problem was the fact that nearly all of her diagnoses preexisted the accident. However, we were able to show that the symptoms were exacerbated by the accident.
- Despite the difficulties with he case we were able to recover a substantial five figure settlement for our client.
- To find out how MartinLaw, PLLC and attorney Chuck Martin will handle your car accident case please visit the car accident page.
