Here are two words you can join together to really bring home the magnitude of damages: Taken and Freedom. This injury has taken Mr. Smith’s freedom to [fill in the blank]
No one likes to have things they value taken.
Americans treasure freedom.
Together those universally powerful words are dynamite.
This injury has taken his freedom to do things without having to make an endless string of choices, to do or not to do, knowing the price will be his pilot light pain flareup if he does: - To throw the ball with his son or say no;
- To push it on his walk or take it slow;
- To finish the yard work, or go lay down for a while with a heating pad and finish another day.
He makes those choices so often they have become automatic. He does them without thinking. They are his new normal since this injury was thrust into his life by no fault of his own.
This injury has also taken his freedom to:
- Get comfortable and stay comfortable when he sleeps;
- Hop out of bed easily, rather than roll out carefully;
- Brush his teeth without being careful not to set off a flareup;
- Quickly turn his head to check blind spots when changing lanes;
- Sit at his desk, head down reading, without having to keep standing to get relief; - Not feel sadness remembering what his baseline used to be before the injury;
- Not to worry about whether to have that dangerous surgery in the future; - Not to have to spend so much time with doctors just to manage the pain; - - Not feel frustration and insult when the defense suggests he’s making it up.
Taking someone’s freedom is a big deal.