According to the New York Daily News, a transit worker who was helping fix an elevated train platform in Brooklyn three years ago fell 30 feet through some unsupported wooden beams and ended up in a two-month coma.

George Nunez was recently awarded $13 million from a personal injury lawsuit he filed against the Metropolitan Transit Authority, who failed to alert Nunez that the beams he was standing on were not safely supported.

Lawyers from the MTA will try to refute the lawsuit, according to the Daily News, because they claim the accident is Nunez’s fault - if he had been properly secured by his safety harness, he never would have fallen in the first place.

Nunez rightfully filed a personal injury lawsuit against the MTA, and was compensated for his pain, suffering and time.

The question remains, who is correct? Is the MTA at fault because they failed to tell Nunez about the known-to-be-unsupported beams, or is Nunez at fault because his safety harness wasn’t properly fastened?

For now the judge has ruled on the side of Nunez, but if the MTA strikes back, that could change.

According to an article from Newsweek, a new, lewd dancing trend in Jamaica has made penile injuries three times as common as they have been in the past.

This new dance trend is called ‘daggering,’ and as the name implies, it involves varying degrees of sometimes violent sexual expression on the dance floor. Newsweek reported that the occurrence of patients appearing in Jamaican hospitals and clinics with ‘broken’ penises has increased over the past year.

While daggering is incredibly sexual and may look perverse, Newsweek says it is not, in fact, Internet porn. Jamaica is a country known for its musical and dancing culture - and this new form of physical expression is not meant to tarnish that.

Newsweek also mentioned that in addition to the broken penises, other injuries - including back and neck injuries - have happened as a result of daggering. Jamaican emergency rooms and clinics are all aware of daggering culture, and are becoming more accustomed to dealing with these types of injuries.

Daggering has not yet become a popular activity in the United States - but there are many other personal injuries that can be suffered - sexual or otherwise.

According to the American Humane Association, every year 3.5 million kids suffer from dog bite injuries.

The Association has launched a new dog bite safety program for kids called “American Humane KIDS: Kids Interacting with Dogs Safely™.” The program, according to Jane Greco Deming, head of education for American Humane, is aimed at kids aged four to seven.

Many of the association’s current safety programs are geared toward kids over age eight, but the younger ones are more likely to sustain a severe dog bite injury to the head, neck or face, Deming explained.

The KIDS program will not use scare tactics on kids, but will instead teach them to be sensitive to dogs’ feelings in certain situations. According to American Humane, the curriculum will result in fewer dog bites, decreased medical expenses and fewer personal injury lawsuits.

The association also hopes that fewer dogs will be sent to shelters and euthanized as a result, because kids won’t unknowingly scare dogs and cause bites.

This program seems like a great idea. It meets national education standards, and implemented correctly, it should have a positive effect on America’s dogs and children. However, there are still dangerous dogs out there that will cause problems no matter how carefully kids or parents act.

Memorial Day Weekend signifies many things in the great US of A. Remembrance of all those brave soldiers who have served our country, celebratory fireworks, grilling out and having outdoor picnics or parties with friends - the list goes on.

Probably the most exciting significance of Memorial Day for the younger part of our population is the opening of swimming pools for the summer. Swimming pools signify the end of school - they mean it’s time to let loose and play. It’s a time for kids to get away and spend a day at the pool - sometimes parent-free.

While it’s a great respite for parents and kids alike to spend a small amount of time apart, there is still a risk involved when allowing your children to go to the pool unattended.

Lifeguards populate public pools, making them a safe place for parents to send their kids - but what if the lifeguard is scanning another part of the pool while a child is struggling, and it takes the guard just one second too long to notice?

This type of incident does not occur often - normally a parent or someone else nearby will step in and help if the lifeguard doesn’t react immediately - but what if this happens when you aren’t there to step in, and your child ends up spending one or two seconds too many under water?

Being under for too long and inhaling water can cause brain damage - or even a dry drowning, a very rare occurrence. This type of situation can lead to pain and suffering, and is considered a personal injury. It may even lead to a lawsuit - depending on the specific situation. If the lifeguard is at fault for the personal injury, the lifeguard or his employer might be charged with negligence.

If something like this does happen to you this summer - though the likelihood is low - don’t hesitate to get in touch with a personal injury attorney in your area to discuss your potential options.

Swimming pools are fun - but as with any recreational activity, risks remain, so cover your bases this summer!

National holidays and long weekends in the summer are a time of drastically increased travel nationwide - which also means the number of accidents out on the road is bound to increase. This might lead you to believe that the number of car accident-related personal injuries and deaths will also go up, but the state totals in Georgia after this year’s Memorial Day travel show differently.

According to the Coosa Valley News, Georgia State Police predicted about 2,700 crashes, 875 injuries and 18 deaths. The actual count was closer to 2,800 crashes - but the total number of injuries was just 750 - compared to more than 900 last year. The crashes killed 15 people in Georgia this past weekend - but it’s fewer than expected and fewer than last year.

In Minnesota, there were at least 11 crashes resulting in death, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the final crash, injuries and death counts are not yet determined.

Georgia personal injury attorneys and Minnesota personal injury attorneys can help those people who were injured in car accidents by no fault of their own - whether they were passengers or a driver not at fault.

The next big travel weekend will be July 4th - so be careful, and celebrate the nation’s independence safely so you don’t need to hire a personal injury attorney for yourself!

When you are injured because of someone else’s mistake or wrongdoing, it seems only fair to receive compensation from the person who did you wrong. But what happens when the person responsible for your injury is a close friend or relative?

I recently hurt my back while carrying heavy furniture up four flights of stairs helping my friend move. I volunteered to help - so it’s my fault, right? I think so - but if the injury was bad enough I could enlist the help of a local personal injury attorney to find out if my friend is at all liable, and if so, how to proceed.

My injury is not that severe; however if I were in the situation of Charla Nash, I definitely would not hesitate to file charges against the friend whose crazy chimpanzee brutally attacked me and destroyed my face.

In many cases, deciding to file a suit against a friend of yours could be a difficult decision to make.  I probably wouldn’t do it unless it was a really severe and/or expensive case, but it’s definitely a situational decision.

If you have an injury and it’s because of something a friend of yours did or did not do, try talking with a personal injury lawyer in your area to find out if it might be worth your time and effort to file a personal injury lawsuit. Almost all personal injury attorneys offer a free consultation, so if you’re questioning a situation, it can’t hurt to check it out.

After a typical rowdy and probably incredibly fun spring break in 2008, some scandalous photos of high school senior Jessica Logan, 18, began circulating throughout four Cincinnati-area high schools via text message.

Just four months later, Jessica killed herself - seemingly as a result of the unending torment and embarrassment the “sexted” naked pictures caused her.

According to Fox 19 in Cincinnati, Jessica’s parents, Albert and Cynthia Logan, have filed a lawsuit against the local police department and Jessica’s high school administration for knowing about the problem but not taking steps to remedy it.

The lawsuit includes charges for wrongful death, negligence and dissemination of private material.

This upsetting story is one of many examples of personal injury lawsuits filed for wrongful death and negligence. When faced with such a tragedy, many people and families might not realize what options they have. Talking with a personal injury attorney at no cost is helpful if you have questions about your specific situation.