What is an acquired brain injury?
An acquired brain injury is a brain injury that occurs after birth, one that was not present at or before birth, and is not caused by a degenerative or hereditary condition.
It can result from a traumatic event such as a road traffic accident or fall, or from a medical event such as a stroke, hypoxic episode, infection, or tumour.
The effects of an acquired brain injury vary widely, from mild cognitive changes to severe and permanent neurological disability.
Types of brain injuries
1. Acquired brain injury
A brain injury after birth is not hereditary, congenital, or degenerative.
Acquired brain injuries can be traumatic or non-traumatic.
The consequences of an acquired brain injury
The long-term effects of an acquired brain injury can be challenging to predict.
How it is presented will differ for everyone; symptoms can range from mild to profound.
They will depend on factors such as the nature, severity, and location of the injury.
They will also depend on the person’s abilities and personality before suffering the injury.
It may take some time after an accident to recognise the presence of an acquired brain injury, particularly where there is no visible external injury.
Common changes: People with an acquired brain injury often experience increased mental and physical fatigue and some slowing in information processing.
They may also experience behavioural, personality, physical, and cognitive changes.
Examples of acquired brain injury
- Stroke: A type of ABI caused by the disruption of blood flow to the brain. Symptoms may include paralysis, difficulty speaking or understanding language, and loss of cognitive abilities.
- Anoxic brain injury: An ABI caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. This can be caused by drowning, suffocation, or other events that limit oxygen supply. Symptoms may include memory loss, confusion, and difficulty with movement.
- Brain tumour: An ABI caused by the growth of a tumour in the brain. Symptoms may include seizures, headaches, and changes in mood or behaviour.
2. Traumatic brain injury
A traumatic brain injury is a sudden damage to the brain which occurs when an outside force is applied to the brain or body that affects the brain’s functioning.
Common causes include assaults, falls, car crashes, and sports injuries.
The injuries range from mild concussions to severe permanent brain damage.
Examples of traumatic brain injury
- Concussion: A type of mild TBI commonly caused by a blow to the head. Symptoms may include headaches, dizziness, nausea, and memory problems.
- Contusion: A more severe form of TBI caused by a direct impact to the head. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness, cognitive impairments, and physical disability.
- Penetration injury: A TBI caused by an object penetrating the skull and damaging brain tissue. Symptoms may include seizures, paralysis, and cognitive impairments.
3. Non-traumatic brain injury
A non-traumatic injury is not a result of an external physical force.
Instead, it can be caused by an illness or condition within the body; these include metabolic disorders, heart attacks, tumours, aneurysms, hydrocephalus, hypoxia, etc.
A non-traumatic injury may also be caused by medical negligence.
Claim process
When choosing a solicitor to deal with brain injury claims, it is very important to choose a specialist with extensive experience in these claims.
Brain injury claims are more complex than most other injury cases and require your solicitor to work with you and your family to establish the exact nature and extent of your injury and how it affects your life.
Your advice will be tailored to your specific circumstances, and your solicitor will help the right experts to access and value your claim.
Your solicitor will guide you through every step of the brain injury claim process.
Immediate steps to take
1. Contact a solicitor
There is generally a time limit of two years, less than one day from the date of the injury, within which you must bring this type of claim if you are over 18.
If the injured party is under 18, their parent or guardian may bring a claim on their behalf.
So, it is important to contact a brain injury claim solicitor as soon as you are medically able to do so.
2. Record all details of the incident
You must comprehensively note everything you can recall regarding how the injury was incurred.
It may be hard to do this following an injury of this nature, and therefore, it might be necessary to have the assistance of a family member or friend.
A detailed record will significantly assist your solicitors when dealing with your case.
Things to include in the record are
- How the accident happened?
- Where the accident happened?
- What you were doing at the time of the accident?
- Who you were with at the time of the accident?
- What medical treatment did you receive immediately following the accident
- Any other information you feel is relevant
Coleman Legal LLP will help you obtain your medical records.
3. Get copies of your medical records
You will need to obtain all test results, radiology reports, doctors’ notes, nurses’ notes and all other reports from the hospital you attended at the time of the accident and any subsequent hospital or rehabilitation facility you have attended.
You will also need to obtain all medical records maintained by your GP.
Access to these records will assist in progressing the preliminary stages of your case.
Can I recover compensation?
It is possible to recover compensation; however, it depends on how the injury was inflicted.
For example, suppose the injury was a result of an assault.
In that case, a victim can bring an action against the perpetrator and also seek compensation from the criminal justice compensation tribunal, or if the injury was a result of a road traffic accident, there may be an option to bring a claim for personal injuries against the driver (of the other car or the car the victim was a passenger in).
A solicitor can just let you know about the nature of the claim that can be brought.
Statute of Limitations
You have two years from the date of the accident within which to issue proceedings for a brain injury claim.
If you are under 18, a separate set of rules applies, and we recommend that you contact our solicitors to discuss them.
To learn more about the statute of limitations for a brain injury claim, click here.
Support groups
1. Headway
Headway Ireland provides services and support for people affected by Acquired Brain Injury in Ireland.
We aim to maximise potential and quality of life.
2. Acquired brain injury in Ireland
We help rebuild lives after brain injury through neuro-rehabilitation.
Our mission is to enable people with an acquired brain injury to live independently with choice, respect, and the opportunity to contribute.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a traumatic brain injury and an acquired brain injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a subset of acquired brain injury.
It is a brain injury caused by an external force, such as a blow to the head, a penetrating injury, or a rapid acceleration-deceleration movement (as in a road traffic accident).
An acquired brain injury (ABI) is the broader category, encompassing all brain injuries that occur after birth and are not congenital or degenerative.
This includes traumatic brain injuries but also non-traumatic injuries caused by internal events such as stroke, cardiac arrest, hypoxic-ischaemic injury (oxygen deprivation), infection of the brain (encephalitis or meningitis), or the effects of a tumour.
In legal proceedings, the distinction matters because the cause of the injury determines who the potential defendant is and what legal framework applies.
A road traffic accident TBI involves different liability principles from, say, a brain injury caused by a delayed diagnosis of meningitis.
Can a brain injury caused by a medical event form the basis of a legal claim?
Yes. An acquired brain injury that results from a medical event, such as
- A delayed diagnosis of stroke,
- A hypoxic episode during surgery,
- A failure to treat raised intracranial pressure, or
- An undetected haematoma can form the basis of a medical negligence claim where the injury was caused by a failure to meet the required standard of care.
Where expert evidence establishes that the care fell below that standard and caused or materially contributed to the brain injury, a claim may be brought.
Medical negligence claims of this type are complex and require independent expert evidence from the relevant speciality.
Our solicitors have experience in this area and can advise on whether the circumstances of a medical brain injury give rise to a claim.
What specialist costs can be included in an acquired brain injury claim?
Where an acquired brain injury results in significant and lasting impairment, the claim must account not only for the claimant’s immediate losses but for their future needs over the course of their lifetime.
These future costs can include:
- The cost of ongoing neurological and rehabilitation treatment
- The cost of neuropsychological therapy; the cost of paid care (where the claimant cannot live independently)
- Assistive technology and adaptive equipment
- Specialised accommodation or home modifications; loss of future earnings from the date of injury to retirement age and
- In cases where a family member has reduced their own employment to provide care, those losses may also be recoverable.
Each of these heads of damage requires specialist expert evidence, a care needs assessment, a vocational report, and actuarial calculations prepared and presented under the guidance of the solicitor.
Our solicitors coordinate all of this on behalf of claimants and their families.
