TBI and Returning to Work After a Fishers Accident

May 21, 2026

• Suffering a traumatic brain injury in a car accident can have serious short- and-long term consequences for your health.
• You might have to miss work, and that can lead to lost wages, unemployment, and diminished earning power for years to come.
• An experienced Fishers Indiana car accident lawyer can help calculate those costs and fight to get back what you are owed.

Being in a car accident can be a terrifying experience. The first thing anyone who’s in one does is check for injuries. You see if you are bleeding, if anything is broken, if your movement is okay. But perhaps the scariest part is injuries that you can’t see, and some of the most unsettling of those happen in your head.

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have serious effects, ranging from uncomfortable to debilitating. It can be unpredictable and does not always get better in a linear, understandable manner. If you have a TBI as a result of a car accident, it can have a major impact on many areas of your life, including your ability to get back to work.

The costs of missing work can add up, and those costs should be part of any settlement that comes from your accident. If you are in an accident, you will want a Fishers car accident attorney who can help calculate the costs of what you lost and get you the compensation that you need to get through it.

Understanding The Dangers of Traumatic Brain Injury

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle accidents are some of the leading causes of traumatic brain injuries, behind only falls amongst accidental injuries. It’s easy to understand why: crashes lead to sudden stops, shaking, and possible impact with the wheel, the airbag, the side of the car, or even the head of the person sitting next to you (the latter is a reason to always stay buckled up; heads colliding together is a genuine risk).

A concussion is a mild TBI, but don’t let the name fool you. While it may not be deadly, it can still lead to memory loss, trouble concentrating, and difficulty learning and problem solving. These symptoms can be especially pronounced in people who have had multiple concussions.

The five-year outcome statistics for moderate and severe TBIs are even more sobering: while 26% of people improve, 52% of people stay the same or get worse.  (The remaining 22% are fatal, but that takes into account TBIs from gunshot wounds.)

Clearly, TBIs are serious medical issues. If you are in a car accident, it is important to figure out what might have happened to your brain.

What to Do If You Are in A Car Accident in Fishers

You know how busy traffic can be near I-69, especially where 116th intersects with Cumberland, with people getting on and off the highway. If you are in an accident there or anywhere else in Fishers, you should contact the local Fishers police to come to the scene. Try to get medical personnel to come out as well.

In addition to making the crucial police report that will help determine liability, the first responders can also check to see if you are experiencing signs of TBI, like:

• Loss of consciousness
• Not being able to remember events right before or after the crash
• Disorientation
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Confusion
• Difficulty paying attention
• Difficulty communicating
• Slurred speech
• Headaches
• Nausea or vomiting

Remember that these symptoms can be present immediately following the accident and can linger for weeks or months. Not showing them at the scene of the accident does not mean you don’t have a TBI.

The way the symptoms develop can have a huge impact on your ability to work.

Returning to Work After a TBI

Do you need to concentrate at work? Does your employer want you to think and pay attention? Do you ever have to communicate? Is it required that you maintain consciousness and stay awake?

There are very few unelected positions where the answer to all of these is “no.” Having a TBI can make it very difficult to go to work. Indeed, there are some jobs that the CDC recommends not doing at all with a TBI. These include jobs that require:

• Working from heights where there is the risk of falling
• Exposure to explosions
• Physical actions such as running or lifting heavy objects
• Driving
• Machine or heavy equipment operation
• Handling hazardous materials

If you are expected to do any of this at your job, you might not be able to work. Even if you have a less strenuous job, you might have difficulty returning to it. If you do, it may be suggested that you start later, work shorter hours, take frequent breaks, and have a reduced workload.

In a perfect world, all employers would be okay with this and encourage you to get better. But we don’t live in that world: we live in a world where having a TBI could lead to you losing your job or at least not getting paid when you can’t work.

The danger is twofold: returning to work too soon can make you even sicker, risk your health, and prolong your inability to work to your full potential. Not returning to work can be extremely precarious economically.

Either way, you can be left in a deep financial hole. But if your TBI is from a Fishers car accident, you might be entitled to compensation for lost wages.

TBI as Part of Your Car Accident Claim

When you are in a car accident, you can potentially recover damages. These include compensation for medical bills and pain and suffering, but they can also include reimbursement for lost wages.

These lost wages could be the work you missed due to hospitalization and recovery from a Fishers car accident TBI, as well as earnings you might lose out on from being laid off or unable to work in the future. Moderate and severe TBIs can mean years of lost work.

These costs aren’t always easy to understand, calculate, or prove. That’s why you need a Fishers car accident attorney who has experience with TBIs, is fully versed in the law, and knows how to fight the insurance companies.

Reach Out to Our Experienced Fishers Car Accident Attorneys

TBIs can be debilitating. They can change your life. They can impact your earnings for years to come. You need lawyers who will do what it takes to get your earnings back after a TBI, like the Fishers car accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998.

Simply call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form now for a free consultation with a knowledgeable Fishers car accident attorney.