A Shelbyville woman paralyzed from the waist down by a drunk driver now has to work extra hard to scrape together enough money to buy a necessary means of transportation. Laurie Swing was only 13 months old when she was dealt the blow that left her in a paraplegic state. One evening in 1965, Swing’s mother was driving to pick up her father when a drunk driver pulled out of a side road and hit their car. Swing’s mother was pinned under the steering wheel for two hours, and Swing was left paralyzed. What makes the accident even worse is that the drunk driver did not go to jail.
Now Swing lives a life with multiple doctor’s appointments and no easy way to get to them. She used to own an old van she could operate with hand controls but was forced to use a car after the van suffered maintenance issues. In 2005 she had a spinal surgery which made it impossible for her to transfer in and out of the car. Now, in order for her to get to her doctor’s appointments, she has to call a TennCare-funded service van to transport her. Due to the multiple stops the van has to make, Swing has to call three days in advance, get to her 10 a.m. appointments by 9 a.m. and, generally, wait until 5 or 6 p.m. to get picked up, turning a two hour appointment into an all-day affair.
Stories like these are tragic, and the guilty party should be forced to compensate the injured for the difficult life ahead of them after they have suffered spinal injuries such as Swing’s. If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident and suffered a debilitating injury, such as a spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury, please call our Nashville car accident attorney today at (615) 866-3938, because you may be entitled to compensation. Let us help you fight for the justice you deserve.
“’But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” John 4:14