Throughout New Mexico, there are many reasons different individuals have come to face traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). There are some that have been victims of abuse at the hands of their spouses, others that have suffered TBIs in combat as soldiers or while being tackled on the football field and then there's those that have suffered blunt force trauma in the course of car or truck accidents.
For one 60-year-old Santa Fe woman, she still deals with the aftereffects of her car accident that occurred on Cerillos Road, even though six years have passed since it occurred. In the blink of an eye, the woman suffered a severe brain injury that robbed her of her mental acuity and memories she could easily recall before her car crash.
Now, she has very little ability to remember anything and exhibits behaviors of an individual suffering from profound mental health impairments. These deficiencies caused by her accident have resulted in her having become involved is contentious battles with police, but have led her to have public emotional meltdowns that would have never happened before the crash.
Having lost her California home to foreclosure since her injury, she now lives in a mental health facility penniless. She now finds herself at the mercy of charities and government-run medical facilities, both of which have access to limited resources to provide the woman with the degree of care she desperately needs.
This woman's situation only magnifies a larger problem that exists in New Mexico regarding TBI patient's access to proper care. The state is lacking when it comes to having enough doctors and medical professionals properly trained to help victims try to relearn essential skills critical in the first few months post-accident.
The fact that these victims don't get the necessary care they need early on leaves them to display larger mental health concerns later down the road.
The Brain Injury Resource Center says it's common that brain injury victims will experience persistent headaches, irritability, difficulties with balance, memory loss, confusion, concentration problems and fatigue. Families abandon victims and they lose their ability to drive, robbing them of an ability to be independent.
If you or your loved one have suffered a TBI and you're looking to be compensated for medical bills and the effects it's had on your life, an attorney can help you learn more.
Source: The New Mexican, "In New Mexico, surviving a brain injury is just the beginning," Cynthia Miller, accessed July 21, 2017
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