Get medical help immediately. Follow all treatment recommendations and keep copies of medical records. Take photos if possible, write down what happened, keep receipts, document symptoms, and record how the injury affects your child's daily life, school, sleep, mood, behaviour, and activities.

Families in the earliest days after a serious injury may also find Oatley Vigmond's guide to the first 7 days after a catastrophic injury or sudden loss helpful.

You should also speak with a lawyer before giving a recorded or written statement to an insurance company.

Yes. A parent, guardian, or other appropriate adult may be able to start a personal injury claim on behalf of an injured child as a litigation guardian. The claim may seek compensation for medical care, rehabilitation, therapy, future care, pain and suffering, educational support, assistive devices, attendant care, and the long term impact of the injury.

Oatley Vigmond can explain the litigation guardian process and help protect your child's legal rights.

A child's injury may be serious enough for a claim if it affects health, mobility, learning, behaviour, independence, emotional well being, school performance, development, or future opportunities. Injuries involving the brain, spine, fractures, scarring, burns, chronic pain, psychological trauma, drowning, near drowning, or long term care needs should be assessed carefully.

The full effect of a child's injury may not be obvious right away, which is why early legal advice can be important.

Compensation may include medical expenses, rehabilitation, therapy, assistive devices, future care, pain and suffering, educational support, attendant care, home modifications, transportation costs, family related expenses, and loss of future earning capacity.

The amount depends on the injury, how it affects the child now, and how it may affect the child as they grow.

Rehabilitation may be paid through accident benefits, private insurance, disability benefits, or a personal injury claim, depending on how the injury happened. Rehabilitation may include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychological counselling, cognitive therapy, mobility support, case management, or school related support.

If the injury happened in a motor vehicle accident, Ontario accident benefits may be an important source of treatment funding.

Seek medical attention as soon as symptoms appear. Some injuries, especially brain injuries, psychological injuries, and soft tissue injuries, may not be obvious right away.

Tell the doctor about the accident and keep a record of changes in sleep, mood, concentration, pain, behaviour, appetite, school performance, memory, balance, and activity level.

Yes. Future care is often one of the most important parts of a child injury claim. A child may need treatment, therapy, educational support, assistive devices, medical follow up, attendant care, home modifications, transportation support, or case management as they grow.

These future needs should be carefully assessed before any settlement is considered.

Yes. A child may be able to receive compensation for pain and suffering if the injury was caused by someone else's negligence. This may include compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring, disability, and the impact on childhood activities.

Pain and suffering must be assessed in the context of the child's age, development, injury, and long term future.

School difficulties may be an important sign of the injury's impact. Keep records of report cards, teacher comments, attendance changes, behavioural changes, accommodations, tutoring, assessments, and special education support.

These records may help show how the injury has affected learning, development, confidence, attention, memory, and school participation.

Limitation periods for children can be different from adult claims. In many cases, the limitation period does not run against a minor in the same way it does against an adult, but there are important exceptions and legal steps that can affect timing.

Parents should get legal advice as soon as possible. Evidence can disappear, witnesses may become harder to find, surveillance may be lost, and insurance deadlines may still apply.

A litigation guardian is an adult who acts on behalf of a child in a legal claim. In many child injury cases, a parent or guardian acts as the litigation guardian.

The litigation guardian helps make decisions, gives instructions to the lawyer, and must act in the child's best interests.

In many cases, yes. Settlements involving minors generally require court approval to ensure the settlement is fair and in the child's best interests.

This process may require medical evidence, prognosis evidence, settlement details, and information about how the settlement protects the child. Oatley Vigmond prepares child injury cases with this requirement in mind.

Do not accept a settlement without legal advice. A child injury settlement must consider future needs, not just current expenses. A child's long term medical, educational, emotional, and financial needs may not be fully known until later.

Once a settlement is approved and completed, it may be difficult or impossible to reopen the claim. It is important to understand the full value of the case before agreeing to resolve it.

In some cases, parents or close family members may be able to claim compensation for expenses, caregiving, transportation, income losses related to care, and loss of care, guidance, and companionship. These claims depend on the facts of the case and the impact of the child's injury on the family.

Families looking for broader guidance after a life changing injury can also visit Oatley Vigmond's Catastrophic Injury Family Information Hub.

Important evidence may include medical records, photos, witness information, incident reports, school records, therapy records, receipts, expert assessments, rehabilitation reports, insurance documents, and notes about how the injury affects your child's daily life.

For child injury claims, school records and family observations can be especially important because they may show changes in learning, behaviour, sleep, mood, attention, and independence.

Yes, in some cases. If a child is seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, catastrophic impairment designation may be available under Ontario's accident benefits system. This designation can provide access to higher levels of medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care benefits.

Catastrophic impairment may be relevant in cases involving serious brain injury, spinal cord injury, severe physical impairment, or a combination of serious impairments.

If a medical error caused or worsened your child's injury, you may have a medical malpractice claim. These cases may involve birth trauma, delayed diagnosis, surgical complications, oxygen deprivation, medication errors, failure to monitor, or failure to respond to serious symptoms.

Medical malpractice cases involving children are complex and require careful expert review. Oatley Vigmond can assess whether a claim may be available.

Child injury claims are often complex because they must protect a child's future. A lawyer can help gather evidence, deal with insurance companies, work with medical and rehabilitation experts, assess long term needs, manage accident benefits, address litigation guardian issues, and pursue compensation that protects the child now and as they grow.

If your child has been seriously injured, it is important to get legal advice as early as possible.