Suffering an injury, even for those who make a full recovery, is never a solitary experience.
The effects of an injury travel like the ripple from a stone thrown into a pond. An injury does not just affect the victim, it permeates the victim’s family, their friends, their work colleagues and the wider community.
The new short film for the Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign, which seeks to demonstrate the value of the law and legal help to injured victims of negligence, focusses on married dad-of-two Chris. He explains how the life-changing injury he sustained at work left its mark on his young family too.
In the short film, Chris’ Story, Chris explains how he fell from height at work in an incident that was not his fault. His injuries included fractures to vertebrae in his back, a bleed on the brain and a punctured lung.
Chris explains that his wife not only had to deal with her own feelings, but she was also caring for their children, and helping them to manage their emotions about the changes in their dad. On top of this, she was caring for Chris on a practical level, as he was unable to do anything for himself.
He says he went from being a normal strong and healthy dad, who could “do anything for my wife and kids – to nothing”. He had to rely on his family to do everything for him. As Chris battled his physical injuries, his mental health greatly suffered too.
APIL members know all too well that it’s never a solo journey when someone is injured. The consequences spread. Entire families, including children, are thrust into a deeply stressful and difficult situation. We talked about this ‘ripple effect’ earlier in the year for APIL’s annual Injury Awareness Week which resonated deeply with our lawyer members who work with victims of negligence.
A partner might have to reduce their working hours to care for their loved one. If the injured person cannot work or must change jobs, finances will be hit, families might fall into debt, or mortgage payments or rent can fall behind, for example.
Life plans and dreams may have to postponed or dropped due to injury. Our members see couples whose dreams of starting or expanding their families are dashed by injury, careers are damaged, and hobbies and passions are dropped. Imagine an injured parent who coaches the local children’s football side which the entire family is involved in. They face having to give up something they all enjoyed, and the side may even be forced to fold if a new coach cannot be found.
Other family members, such as grandparents or aunts and uncles, friends and neighbours might have to pick up childcare duties as the victim and their partner attend hospital appointments.
It can take a long time for a family’s lives to return to some kind of normal, if it ever does, as the ripple effect of injury spreads far and wide.
In the film Chris explains how he ended up in a dark place, but with thanks to the law on negligence and support from his solicitor he was able to get the help he needed. Chris, and in turn his family, are now back on track.
You can watch and share Chris’s Story using the following links: On YouTube, on Instagram, on Facebook, on LinkedIn or on X (formerly Twitter).