Portland, OR asked in Personal Injury and Employment Discrimination for Oregon

Q: Retiring early due to a traumatic experience

Between 2008-9 I was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver his fault I drive professionally as a truck driver the although it's a left me a little bit dramatic Lee confused and at the age of 50 I don't have any other options other than early retirement if that's an option or if there's any other suggestions you might have or an opinion or suggestion to take action towards early retirement

1 Lawyer Answer
Joanne Reisman
Joanne Reisman
Answered
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: This isn't a personal injury question as the statute of limitations to sue the other driver has long since past. However because your brain injury continues to limit your ability to work you could investigate whether you can get Social Security Disability. I would look for Attorneys near where you live who specialize in helping people get Social Security Disability Benefits. They usually don't require any money up front as they get paid a set fee out of your payments when you get your award and they can work on your case for as many years as it takes to get approved. Then you get back pay retroactive to the date you applied.

Once you are approved for SSD, you will also qualify for Medicare (or Medicaid if you only get SSI.) But that should help you get medical coverage to help pay for therapies you need to improve your ability to function. It sounds like you have a traumatic brain injury.

If your accident was work related and you were employed with workers compensation benefits, hopefully you were represented by a worker's compensation Attorney. At this late date I don't know if you have any remaining benefits to tap which could pay for retraining into another job you can still do. But that would be another avenue to investigate.

Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer

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