Man with Permanent Disfigurement Wins His Case: Kelly’s Story

A Sudden Collision Sets Off Airbags and Causes Serious Injuries

On a December afternoon, Kelly was driving his pickup along with the pace of traffic when a car suddenly pulled out from a side road to his right. Kelly barely had time to see the car, let alone stop before hitting it.

The collision sent both vehicles off in opposite directions, with Kelly landing in the roadside ditch. All of his airbags deployed, and the impact was so severe that he couldn’t give the police a statement at the scene.

At the hospital, Kelly reported significant pain in his chest and sternum, and the doctors discovered that his breastbone was, in fact, fractured. Unfortunately, the best plan for this kind of break is rest and pain management, which meant Kelly would be laid up, possibly for weeks.

Over the next few months, Kelly experienced a great deal of pain simply by being alive. So many things hurt his chest, from a raised heart rate after going up the stairs to deep breaths to rolling over in bed. He couldn’t lift things above his waist or move his arms from side to side without extreme pain. In addition to the chest pain, Kelly had neck and back pain from whiplash.

While all of this was difficult, and warranted compensation from the at-fault driver, the pain itself wasn’t what made Kelly’s case unique.