Most families make plans for the future without really thinking of them as plans.
So, you get on with work, pay the mortgage, bring up the children and look forward to some holidays, as a respite to the daily grind or simply the routine of it all.
As life progresses, perhaps you think you’ll look to move house one day, get a better paid job, travel further afield or simply find a bit more time for doing the things you enjoy. Later down the line, there may be thoughts of retirement and what you will do when the children have finally left home.
Then someone in the family suffers a serious injury.
Lives are turned upside down, and in the blink of an eye, any plans you had go on hold or get shelved forever.
Quite apart from the pain and suffering of the injury itself, those assumptions about the future can suddenly look very different. Work, money, childcare, the family home and the fun things you do together as a family may all be affected.
And rarely does only the injured person’s life change.
When everyday family life suddenly becomes difficult
You rarely stop to think about how the everyday jobs at home are divided among family members. You haven’t needed to give it a thought until now.
One person may usually do the school run. The other might do most of the cooking. Someone takes the children to football or swimming, somebody else does the shopping, walks the dog, cuts the grass or tackles the jobs around the house.
It all just happens.
After a serious injury, those arrangements need to change very quickly. Because of their injuries, a parent may no longer be able to drive, lift a young child, stand for long enough to cook a meal or manage the stairs easily. Even mundane tasks can become difficult or exhausting.
The jobs still need doing, though.
Often, much of the extra responsibility falls on a husband, wife or partner who may already be working and looking after the children. Grandparents, relatives and friends may step in too, sometimes for weeks or months at a time.
Work and finances may look very different
Work can be one of the biggest areas of uncertainty after someone in the household suffers a serious injury.
Once sufficiently recovered, some accident victims can return to the same employer, although in some cases on reduced hours or with lighter duties.
Others may have to change occupation altogether if their previous work was physically demanding. If the accident caused catastrophic injuries, returning to work may never be possible.
There can also be a knock-on effect for the rest of the family.
A husband, wife or partner may cut down their own work hours because they need to devote more time to childcare, or because the injured person needs help at home. As a result, two incomes may be adversely affected.
The long-term consequences may go further than the immediate loss of wages. Reduced earnings over a long period of time will mean lower pension contributions and ultimately less financial security when it’s needed the most.
These are just a few hypothetical examples of the changes families will never have expected to face and wouldn’t have had to if one of their number had not suffered serious injury in an accident.
The plans you made as a family may have to change
Some of the biggest changes may involve things that once seemed far off.
A couple may have been thinking about having another child. They might have planned to travel more, move house, renovate an old cottage, take up a new hobby, or simply spend more time doing the things they enjoy.
For one person, that might mean training for a marathon or getting out on the bike every weekend. For another, it could be coaching the children’s football team or looking forward to travelling more in retirement.
A serious injury does not automatically mean those plans disappear, but some may have to be put on hold or adapted.
Priorities can change too.
What once seemed important will likely matter less as other things come to the fore. Devotion to helping the injured family member get well again suddenly seems a whole lot more important than anything else that was on the horizon.
Sometimes even the family home has to change
A serious injury can also make people look at their home in a completely different way.
Stairs that were never given a second thought may suddenly become difficult or impossible. A bathroom may no longer be easy to use, doorways may be too narrow for a wheelchair, or someone may need to spend more of their time living downstairs.
Sometimes relatively straightforward adaptations can make a big difference.
In more serious cases, though, the family home may simply no longer be suitable. The layout, access or lack of space might mean that moving becomes the more practical option.
That can be a difficult adjustment in itself, particularly if it means leaving a home the family had expected to stay in for many years.
Recovery becomes part of family life too
Recovery after a serious injury can take up a surprising amount of family life.
There will be hospital appointments, physiotherapy and follow-up treatment, but rehabilitation in serious injury cases often involves a lot more. Some people may need occupational therapy, psychological support, specialist rehabilitation or help preparing for a return to work.
As a result, the family calendar starts to fill up with medical and rehabilitation appointments alongside school events, work commitments and everything else that was already there.
The aim, though, is not simply to treat the injury.
Good rehabilitation is about helping someone regain as much independence as possible and get back to an ordinary life, or as near to one as is possible. That might mean them returning to work, managing more for themselves, taking part in family activities again and gradually starting to do some of the things they were able to do before the accident.
Why compensation has to look ahead
When people think about compensation after an accident, they often think first about the injury itself.
In a serious injury claim, though, a large part of the picture may be what happens next.
If someone cannot return to the same job, needs future care, ongoing treatment, rehabilitation, specialist equipment or changes to their home, those needs can last for many years. In some cases, they may last for the rest of the injured person’s life.
That is why a serious injury compensation claim involves much more than negotiating a satisfactory settlement for the injuries suffered.
Compensation cannot restore the life someone had before an accident, and it cannot undo what has happened to a family.
What it can do is help meet the financial losses and practical needs resulting from the accident, including those which may only become apparent as time goes on.
In that sense, part of the claim is about making sure the future is properly provided for. How much of the claim will be devoted to future losses and needs will depend on the severity of the injury.
Looking ahead
Serious injuries change plans that once seemed fixed. Family life may not look quite the same afterwards, and the future may have to be approached from a different perspective. But with the right treatment, rehabilitation, practical help and financial support, families can and do adapt.
Plans change. Priorities shift.
What matters is that there is still a future to look forward to, even if it turns out differently from the one the family had originally planned
