It doesn’t matter if your child is an infant or a teen—the news is equally devastating. Your child has suffered a brain injury, a spinal cord injury, a broken bone, or another painful injury that significantly impacts his life. You can’t go back and prevent the crash that caused the injury, but there are things that you can do to make this difficult time easier for your child.
What You Can Do Now
Your child’s recovery may require the effort of the whole family, but your child is the only one experiencing the physical pain. As you move through the days, weeks, and sometimes months or years following your child’s car crash on the North-South Tollway, Eisenhower Expressway, or other Chicago road, it is important to:
- Get your child the medical care he needs. If you think your child needs a second opinion, don’t hesitate to get it. Additionally, make sure that your child gets the rehabilitation therapy and recommended follow-up care.
- Encourage visits from your child’s friends, as appropriate. As long as it won’t interfere with your child’s physical recovery, it is important that your child feel included, and not isolated, from his friends.
- Help your child with his fears. It may be difficult for your child to get back into a car, or he may fear death. It is important to talk about these fears and to seek professional help, as appropriate.
- Talk to your child’s school. You don’t want your child to fall behind in school. Talk about accommodations that can be made for your child.
- Accept help. You are going to be very busy helping your child. Accept help from your family and friends when it comes to cleaning your house, running errands, making meals, or caring for your other children.
Do you know any parents in the Chicago area? It is impossible to know when a serious car accident will occur, so it is important to be prepared. Please share this blog post on Twitter and Facebook to let other parents know what they can do after a crash, and please download our FREE accident app to your cell phone for step-by-step instructions about what to do after an accident.
