Race to the Top—Law Blog Five years ago, my life was much different than it is now. Back then, I spent the majority of my time training—either in the water, on a bike, or running on my own two feet. I was one of the top triathlete competitors in the Southwestern United States and in May 2014, I was competing for one of my biggest races yet. What made this race so much harder than any before was not only the added distance, but also the rugged terrain. I was determined to finish the race in record time that summer but little did I know at the time, I would never get to compete. It was an early Sunday morning about two weeks before the race was supposed to take place when everything changed. I had been biking along one of the mountain roads in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado and at around 4 am, a car came speeding down behind me. I had been in the bike lane with my bicycle lights flashing, but this car was going way too fast to notice or avoid me. The driver hit me headon and I flew off my bicycle and flipped over the car. I ended up in a coma for three months.
The Aftermath The doctors said if I wouldn’t have been wearing a helmet, I’d be dead, but even with the helmet, I was in pretty bad shape. The driver hit me going 45 miles per hour when the speed limit on that windy road was 15 miles per hour. I broke over ten bones in my body, suffered serious internal bleeding, partially severed my spine, and my brain suffered some swelling which was why I had been in a coma for so long. Five years later, I have healed surprisingly well, but it wasn’t an easy journey at all. I spent over a year in physical therapy trying to heal my bones and my spine. Because of my spine, I’m unable to be the athlete I once was and that’s the hardest thing I struggle with.
How Personal Injury Law Helped Me After my accident, I needed the help of a personal injury lawyer to hold the driver accountable for the injuries I experienced. I thought it was pretty clear that the driver was negligent because they had been going well over the speed limit when they hit me,
but the driver hired a ruthless defense attorney who tried to say that I was somehow in the wrong place at the wrong time! I couldn’t be more thankful for how my lawyer assisted me during this time, as I was in the process of healing and needed the settlement to help cover my expenses. Ultimately, I received the compensation I deserved thanks to him and to this day, I stay in touch with my lawyer and consider him a close friend. I became very interested in personal injury litigation during my case and I want to use this blog as a way to inform other injured victims about the legal process. I think if I had been more informed along the way, I could’ve handled my case with more confidence. Hopefully, as you read about various laws and personal injury related topics here, you can apply them directly to your situation.