Don’t Let A Workplace Accident Stop You From Living Your Life
Brian O Sutter
Workers’ Compensation
A serious, long-term disability is a traumatic experience. Losing a limb, becoming paralyzed, or even just losing full mobility in one hand is a tough pill to swallow, especially if there’s no chance of going back to the way things were before. However, life goes on no matter what happens to slow you down, and if you have a good support system in place you can bounce back to do even better than how you were before.If your accident happened while you were at work, you have the advantage of getting treatment and a partial paycheck through workers’ compensation insurance. This no-fault insurance kicks in no matter what the circumstances are and can pay out for a long time after the accident depending on the kind of injury and how well you recover. You may also qualify for Social Security Disability payments, but SSD only pays out when you are completely unable to work for at least one year.
The money definitely helps, but many people collecting disability payments worry that if they recover too much they’ll lose their disability income while being unable to find a new job. That’s why it’s important to be as proactive as possible while you can still count on your current payments. It may be difficult, but there are a few things you should do as soon as you physically can.
Accept The New You
Acceptance isn’t easy. Most people have to go through a grieving process when they lose something important to them, and you definitely lose something when you become disabled. However, you don’t have to let your disability define you and you don’t have to let it stop you in your tracks. You can adapt.
Train For New Work
Think about the kinds of jobs you can do with your current disabilities and the skills you have that could come in handy in other lines of work. Get creative, and remember that modern technology makes it much easier to perform many jobs even if you can’t stand up for long, can’t use your hands, and so on. Once you have a new career in mind, you can start training for it even as you recover from your accident.
Keep Moving Forward
Avoid falling into the trap of worrying about the way things used to be. Things may have been better before, but that will take away from the time and focus you can use to improve yourself now and make things better for yourself in the future. Set yourself the goal of living on an independent wage: even if that isn’t likely, it will give you a goal to work towards.
Get Legal Advice
Both private workers’ compensation and public Social Security Disability have a lot of red tape and paperwork to go through, and they don’t always make it easy to figure out whether you qualify for assistance or how much you should get. A personal injury firm like the All Injuries Law Firm can help you navigate through all the paperwork and represent you if the insurance evaluator rejects your claim.
A disability is a major roadblock, no matter how severe it is or what form it takes. However, for most people there’s an opportunity to come back from a serious injury or accident and find a new way to live. Never give up hope, and never stop fighting.