If you get involved in an injury claim, such as an auto accident, and suffer bodily injuries, you’ll need to receive treatment and take time to focus on recovery. As an injury victim, it’s good to record the incident and how it affects your life in the days that follow. You can do this by writing a journal describing the circumstances surrounding the accident, your injuries treatment, pain and suffering, and the recovery journey. At Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers, we assist our clients in documenting their pain & suffering and loss due to the accident.
An injury journal is beneficial in many ways. For example, if you decide to take legal action against the person who caused your injuries, a personal injury journal can act as an indisputable source of evidence. It gives a detailed explanation of the extent of your injuries and suffering. It also helps prove to the at fault’s insurer the magnitude of your damages. Therefore, this post is all about how you can document your pain and suffering after an accident. Read on to learn what a personal injury journal is and how to create one successfully.
What’s In This Article:
- Defining A Personal Injury Journal
- What To Include In Your Personal Injury Journal
- Get The Help Of Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers
Defining A Personal Injury Journal
A personal injury journal is much like a typical journal describing what happens in your daily world. An injury journal details a first-hand account of the challenges and experiences you endure after sustaining an injury from an accident. It should reflect the pain, suffering, and agony you go through each day and how that suffering caused by the injury impacts your life.
You can handwrite your injury journal or type it if the injuries make it impossible to do so. However, regardless of how you choose to put down your thoughts about the accident, you should highlight critical information about how the injury changed your life since the day you had the accident.
Additionally, you should ensure the content of your personal injury journal remains private and confidential and must never be shared with a third party except for your attorney. Your personal injury attorney is better placed to advise you on which information to include and what to leave out. They will also give directions on how often you should update them on the journal’s content.
What To Include In Your Personal Injury Journal
There are many aspects of an accident that you should cover in your journal to help with your personal injury case. When you first begin to write your journal, you need to create different entries of your injuries. However, as days pass, you may reduce the frequency of your entries to once or twice per week. Here’s a list of what to include in your injury journal.
Crucial Details Surrounding Your Accident
The details surrounding your accident may “cool down ” or become fuzzy as time goes. So it’s much better to put everything down as soon as they occur and when they’re still fresh in your mind. Again, it’s important to remember that personal injury cases take time to get settled, so recording everything early enough can help keep the details as fresh and accurate as possible.
The accident details to include in your journal should highlight:
- What the weather was like at the time of the accident;
- Which time of the day did the accident occur?
- The location of the accident;
- Possible witnesses who might have seen the accident happen;
- What the responsible party did or said before, during, and after the accident;
- The contact information you might have obtained from the witnesses;
- Road conditions and any other hazards that may have influenced the accident ( ice, wet sidewalks, uneven surfaces, etc.);
- Details of the police officers who responded to the incident;
Pain and Suffering You Experience
After the accident, the first thing that you should focus on is your health and how to manage your injuries. However, in your journal, you need to take note of the pain you experience each day. You should describe the type of pain you feel on any given day, plus the intensity or frequency of the pain.
This is a critical entry of your journal, and whatever account you make therein must be honest and realistic. Do not underrate or exaggerate your pain. It would help if you also highlighted how the intensity and frequency of the pain had affected your daily responsibilities and quality of life. In case you experience any debilitations, remember to include them.
The Impact Of The Accident On Your Overall Life & Family
In your journal, describe in every detail the kind of day-to-day activities or responsibilities you usually engage in, then emphasize how the injuries have prevented you from performing them. For example, if you’re an active person with a premium gym membership, explain how you cannot continue with your daily workouts or other recreational hobbies because of the injuries.
Most importantly, your journal should highlight whether the accident prevented you from working or engaging in income-generating activities. This should include how you’ve been unable to perform your professional duties or if you were forced to look for a different job because of the accident.
The Time You Stayed Without Working
Moreover, your injury journal should highlight the number of days or months you did not report to work as you stayed at home or hospital to concentrate on your recovery. If, because of the accident, you were forced to take a compulsory leave to recover, record how long the break lasted and the amount of income you lost during this time. To determine this, calculate your hourly wage rate against the time you spent away from work for whom you were incapacitated, then calculate the total amount you could have earned during that time.
Doctor Appointments And Treatment Schedules
After an accident, such as a car accident, semi-truck accident, slip & fall, wrongful death, or work accident in which you sustained injuries, you’ll need to attend doctor appointments and treatment schedules. These appointments may be focused on diagnosing your injuries and receiving treatment. If you’re not admitted to the hospital, you’ll need to commute to the doctor’s office as frequently as required. These visits can become expensive over time and a burden to your loved ones.
To ensure you receive equitable compensation for your traveling expenses, be sure to include the frequency and cost of each appointment and the average distance you covered for each of them. For example, it helps to note down your vehicle mileage and gas costs to help you determine the average amount you spend on each appointment.
Treatments And Therapies You Receive
Ideally, the most significant motivation a victim should have for filing a personal injury claim is to receive compensation for medical expenses incurred after an injury. This entry should feature prominently in your injury journal. Carefully highlight the type of injuries you suffered and the treatments you received for every kind of injury.
Begin with the details of emergency room treatment. If you had any, document any other subsequent treatments and therapies you received. Also, note down the type and cost of prescription medications the doctor administered and how your injuries responded to treatment. Finally, be sure to mention if you were fitted with any medical equipment or devices to facilitate the healing process.
Get The Help Of Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers
Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Lawyers in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has helped many negligence victims obtain justice and compensation for their suffering. We always encourage accident victims to pursue a personal injury claim to keep a comprehensive record of the events of the accident through a personal injury journal. But other than that, we can expertly help you build a strong case against the responsible party. We also offer a free no-obligation case review to discuss how to win the claim successfully. With offices in Bowling Green and throughout Kentucky, we are always close by to help our injured clients.
