Every year thousands of people suffer catastrophic injuries. If this were to happen to you, these types of injuries inevitably could permanently change your life and the lives of the ones you love.

Probably the most frightening thing about catastrophic injuries is they can happen to anyone at any time. And they can happen anywhere.

Catastrophic injuries have occurred in schools, at work, and at play. They happen unexpectedly and seem to often occur completely "out of the blue."

A catastrophic injury is any injury that has a serious, long term affect on the victim.

A catastrophic injury can leave the person who is injured permanently disabled for the rest of his or her life. It can also be the cause of their early death.

The trauma that these injuries inflict to the major organs and systems in a person's body are severe. And in many cases these injuries are irreversible. Most catastrophic traumas include brain injury, amputation, neck injury, head trauma, severe burns, spinal cord injuries, and paralysis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 1.4 million Americans a year suffer traumatic brain injuries. Approximately 20% of these injuries happen as the result of an accident, 28% are the result of falling, 19% happen after being hit or hitting an object, and 11% are the after effects of an assault.

Such injuries have an enormous impact on a person's life. Not only can catastrophic injuries make it virtually impossible to earn any substantial income, they can also preclude people from enjoying what is left of their lives.

And they inevitably are very stressful on the victim's family. In some instances a person's personality could change and they could even have difficulty recognizing people whom they love.

After someone has experienced a catastrophic injury they may have to be subjected to complex surgeries, long stays in the hospital, extensive rehabilitation, and assistive care or nursing care. Any of these can become a major financial burden for the victim's family.

However, family members and survivors could be entitled to be compensated for lost income, personal care, health costs, the loss of the ability to enjoy life, pain, suffering, mental anguish, and other damages that are related to the injuries.

In addition, members of the family could pursue financial compensation in a wrongful death claim that was caused by a catastrophic injury.

Many personal injury law firms will freely evaluate your case to see if there are substantial grounds for litigation. If, for example, brain injuries or spinal cord injuries were caused by the negligence of another, the victim and/or his or her family may be entitled to financial compensation and other damages.