Helping you through your first Christmas and New Year following a serious injury

After sustaining a serious or life changing injury, Christmas and New Year celebrations can be challenging. As we approach the holiday period, we discuss a few things that can help your festivities run as smoothly as possible.

Discuss your wishes and needs with your loved ones

Prior to making or finalising any plans for the Christmas period, you and your loved ones are advised to consider your wishes for this period and what support you may require. Do you want this time to be celebrated as a household only? Do you want to invite all your loved ones to join you on a particular day and will you need extra periods of rest to recuperate and ‘manage’ the festivities?

You may feel that during this period that your existing support arrangements will be sufficient, too restrictive or in some cases more than is required whilst surrounded by your loved ones. By making arrangements in advance, you can manage your care requirements aligned to your plans and wishes accordingly.

Festive traditions

Family gatherings, trips to pantomimes, visits to Father Christmas; we all have festive traditions that contribute to our Christmas celebrations. Following a serious injury however, some families make the decision to cancel and disregard these annual events, often due to time constraints and financial concerns.

At Price Slater Gawne, we recommend that families maintain as much normality as possible following life changing injuries. We work closely with the family and other professionals to make events accessible and enjoyable.

Jonathan Grundy, Serious Injury Associate Solicitor, said: “We are here to help take away the worry and stress, to enable you to focus on recovery, rehabilitation and enjoying time with loved ones. Throughout the year and at  Christmas time, we understand that there are certain family traditions where additional logistical planning will be required and whilst cancelling may be the easiest solution, it is often not the best. We understand that additional support may be required to facilitate Christmas shopping, to enable children to attend parties, etc.  Our team are committed to working closely with you and your support network to help facilitate these traditions and requirements”.

Work closely with your Case Manager

Your Case Manager is there to support you with your treatment and care requirements at all times. During the festive period, it is often the case that there will be visitors to your home, you may be visiting the home of a friend or family member or a public venue. Your Case Manager will work closely with you to understand where additional support, aids or appliances may assist you. They will discuss factors for you to consider in relation to your care and use their expertise to guide you through the festivities.

Maintaining ongoing and transparent communication with your Case Manager is vital. As you navigate your first Christmas following an injury, we recommend working with your Case Manager to discuss and overcome any concerns, issues or questions you may have around your personal circumstances. The Case Manager is there to help and can utilise their extensive experience, knowledge and network.

The finances

In the months following a significant injury, we find that one of the biggest concerns our clients have is in relation to financial matters. Questions surrounding how they will afford to pay their mortgage, bills and at Christmas times, how they will afford the associated financial outgoings are often at the forefront of their minds.

Charities

Charities are open 365 days per year. They understand your situation and they are able to help with just about anything.  They are always on the end of the phone to offer advice and support. Use them. They will be happy to help you.

At Price Slater Gawne, we understand the concerns our clients are faced with and work closely with the injured party and family to help alleviate these concerns. Following an admission of liability, we outline and request necessary funding from defendants to allow our clients to implement the care network required, to manage the financial demands of life and to eliminate financial worries.

As we near ever closer to the festive period, our team are here to help. If you would like to speak to a member of the Price Slater Gawne Personal Injury team, please contact Jonathan Grundy on 07398 526515 or Gemma Stanley on 07534 847421, by email to PI@psg-law.co.uk. We are here to help you.