Child Brain Injury Claims

Legally reviewed by: LPC & GDL Matthew Shiels Updated: May 24, 2023

We understand that child injury claims can be incredibly difficult. If your child has suffered a serious head injury in an avoidable situation, then getting the right compensation can be vital to helping them move forward in life. Our head injury solicitors can help you throughout the difficult process.

What are the different types of child head injury?

There are a number of different head injuries that children may be likely to sustain to their head, and in a number of different scenarios. These could be:

• Road traffic accidents
• Accidents at school
• Due to a sport injury
• Due to a fall
• Due to physical child abuse
• Medical negligence at birth

A head injury is defined as any kind of damage to the scalp, skull, brain, or other tissue and blood vessels in the head. It can be as mild as just a bump, a bruise or a cut on the head, but can also range to contusions, skull fractures, and brain injuries. Brain injuries can then also include issues that have occurred internally, such as a lack of oxygen or a stroke.

What kind of brain injuries are there?

There are two different kinds of acquired brain injury (ABI). This term means that the child wasn’t born with their injury – it is instead the result of an accident or an illness that has happened later.

The two types are:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

This is the result of a serious impact to the head. This could be from an accident or from a fall.

• Non-traumatic brain injury

This is usually the result of something like a brain tumour or meningitis.  A lack of oxygen to the brain can also have an impact.

Acquired brain injury in children is also sometimes called ‘paediatric acquired brain injury’ by healthcare professionals

Is a child brain injury different to an adult brain injury?

Brain injuries in children are more serious because they involve damage to a skull and brain that is still developing. The human brain carries on developing until we are in our 20s, and there has also been some research to suggest that it goes on for many additional years after that. If part of the brain is injured during its earlier stages of development, then it may be the case that a child might not go on to develop some of the skills that they may otherwise have had. We additionally understand that some of the effects of the acquired brain injury may not come to the surface until the injured part starts to be used.

If a young child sustains an injury to the frontal lobe – which is the part responsible for judgement and decision-making – then it may not become apparent until they are at the age where they need to use these skills. Because of this delay in diagnosis, the problems that a child may face from a brain injury range from minor memory problems to serious, long-term physical and learning difficulties. They will likely need special medical care, including child rehabilitation and a number of different treatments from specialists such as speech and language therapists and neuro-physiotherapists.

We Can Help

Taking all of these factors into account, it is important to have the very best legal support throughout the process of making a claim for a child’s brain injury. Our expert solicitors can help you to get the compensation that you and your child deserve.