Kristen was less than one mile away from home, with her kids and their new nanny waiting on the front porch, when her life changed forever.
It was a normal, sunny day, as she took the curved road to her home, as she always did. And then, faster than she could react, a driver under the influence of drugs hit her in a head-on collision.
“My first thought was, ‘this is how I die,’” Kristen said. “Two of my kids were sitting in the driveway waiting for me to come home, my husband was at the ballpark with our third kid, and that was how I was going to die.”
Disoriented and unable to process what had happened, she managed to crawl out of the vehicle. She felt unstable, like she was going to pass out. She remembers lying in the road, terrified of being hit again, hoping that oncoming drivers would see her in time.
She survived the crash, but the aftermath changed nearly every part of her life.
She suffered a dislocated shoulder, soft-tissue injuries, and a serious concussion. She made repeated trips back to the emergency room and completed months of physical therapy.
Some of the hardest losses were the quiet ones. She faced depression and anxiety that made driving difficult. Because of her shoulder pain, she lost the last window of time when she could still pick up her youngest child before he grew too big to be carried.
The crash also affected the family financially. At the time, Kristen played a major role in her family’s real estate business. Her husband, who also worked for the business, scaled back to help Kristen recover. While their family worked to move forward after the accident, their income took a hit.
That’s when Tracy Cary and Alabama Personal Injury Lawyers stepped in.
While Kristen was still in the hospital, he gave her family something they desperately needed: a plan. Tracy helped them move quickly on the civil side of the case, guided her through each stage of the process, and stood beside her during some of the most difficult moments, including facing the other driver in deposition.
“Through the whole process, he was an emotional stronghold for us,” Kristen said. “He made me as comfortable as he could in the situation. He was really good about making sure that I was okay before anything else.”
Alabama Personal Injury Lawyers recovered the maximum available insurance from all applicable policies, giving the family financial stability during a season marked by pain, uncertainty, and lost income.
Four years after Kristen almost lost her life to an impaired driver, their family used a small portion of the settlement money to take a trip to the Dominican Republic to celebrate what mattered most: they were still together.
Serious crashes can change a life in seconds. If you or someone you love has been injured because of someone else’s negligence, Alabama Personal Injury Lawyers is here to help you move forward. Contact us today for a free consultation.