From grade school to high school, millions of children and teenagers play sports and engage in other competitive activities. And each year millions of them are treated for sports-related injuries. For the most part, the injuries are sprains and strains, like twisted ankles and over-extended knees. However, sometimes the injuries are much more serious. For example, Patty Phommanyvong, a high school cheerleader, suffered injuries that have left her confined to be nursing home bed.<\/p>\n
Of course, the health issue is most important. As a parent, the first question you have is, \u201cIs my child OK?\u201d You want and need to make sure that your child gets the best medical care possible, and in the best case scenario, is able to resume play and normal life activities. But when it comes to sports injuries, the second question almost has to be, \u201cWho pays the bills?\u201d<\/p>\n
Patty Phommanyvong was performing a cheerleading stunt at a high school football game when she was hurt. As part of the stunt, she was thrown into the air and caught by other cheerleaders. But, almost immediately after she came down, she went limp. Her heart stopped beating, and she suffered severe brain damage.<\/p>\n
No one knows what happened exactly, but doctors think that she may have been hit in the chest as she came down. Patty\u2019s now a quadriplegic. She\u2019s confined to bed in a nursing home. She can\u2019t eat or speak; she communicates by blinking her eyes.<\/p>\n
It can\u2019t be said that sports- and competition-related injuries like Patty\u2019s are \u201ccommon.\u201d In fact they\u2019re quite rare, considering how many kids are playing sports. The number of injuries is a bit frightening, though.<\/p>\n
According to the latest statistics gathered by Safe Kids USA and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):<\/p>\n
Each year, more than 3.5 million children ages 14 years and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries. More than 30 million children participate in sports each year
\n62% of organized sports-related injuries happen during practice rather than during games
\nCollision and contact sports, like football and rugby, have higher injury rates, but injuries from individual sports, such as gymnastics and swimming, are usually more severe
\nAbout 33% of parents don\u2019t take the same safety precautions during their child\u2019s practice as they do for a game, and there are statistics showing that schools and coaches take practices less seriously than games when it comes to injuries
\nPaying the Bills<\/p>\n
Generally, if you have health and medical insurance, your child\u2019s care and treatment is covered. However, with the costs of health insurance on the rise constantly, deductibles you may have to pay, and perhaps limited or no coverage for some treatments and \u201cout-of-network\u201d professionals, you still may feel a financial strain. Patty Phommanyvong\u2019s family is in that situation. Insurance is helping, but they\u2019re still \u201cstruggling,\u201d her father reports.<\/p>\n
The school or organization may carry insurance, too. This may help defray some costs if you don\u2019t have insurance or your insurance doesn\u2019t cover all of the bills.<\/p>\n
Sometimes parents sue the school district or athletic association, claiming that they were negligent<\/a>\u00a0for things like not having the proper safety equipment emergency medical care on hand at the time of the injury. If you\u2019re successful in this type of suit, the school or club may have to pay your child\u2019s medical bills, as well as other money \u201cdamages<\/a>\u201d for things like pain and suffering.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re child is playing sports or competing in something right now, or if she\u2019s thinking about tying it, you should:<\/p>\n Patty\u2019s father has said that if he\u2019d known of the injury statistics for cheerleading he probably wouldn\u2019t have let Patty participate. Take\u00a0a cue\u00a0from him. If you prepare yourself with the facts and ask the right questions, you and your child may enjoy sports and competition for many years, and without serious injury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n http:\/\/personal-injury.lawyers.com\/personal-injury-basics\/sports-injuries-who-pays-the-bills.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Personal Injury Lawyer | Sports Injuries From grade school to high school, millions of children and teenagers play sports and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[78,119,747],"class_list":["post-18198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury-lawyer","tag-criminal-defense-lawyer","tag-personal-injury-lawyer","tag-workers-comp-lawyer"],"yoast_head":"\nTake Precautions<\/h2>\n
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