Getting and staying physically active are among the best things you can do for your health and quality of life. Each year, millions of people purchase gym memberships for classes, access to equipment and advice. Of course, any type of physical activity comes with inherent risks, but most people agree that the benefits of getting in shape greatly outweigh the risks. However, accidents do happen, and sometimes the exercise facility is at fault.
Incidence of Fitness Injuries
In truth, being physically fit dramatically reduces your overall risk of all types of injury. But getting in shape does pose some risks. While there are no hard and fast global statistics on gym injuries, there are a variety of studies that give us a relative idea of the scope of fitness-related injuries.
Here are some stats on gym injuries:
- In the US, at least 1000 people are treated in emergency departments daily for injuries related to sports and physical fitness activities.
- People who do CrossFit risk 3.1 injuries for every 1000 hours engaged in the program.
- In 2012, nearly half a million people were injured doing fitness activities.
- Nearly a million people were treated for weight training injuries between 1990 and 2007.
In many cases, the injured party is at fault for their own injury, often due to overexertion or inexperience. But many times injuries occur due to faulty equipment, improper supervision or other forms of negligence committed by a third party other than the injured victim.
Common Types of Gym and Fitness Injuries
- Ruptures, strains, sprains and bruising of muscles and other soft tissues
- Back and neck injuries from lifting or faulty exercise execution
- Broken or crushed bones from dropped weights or equipment malfunction
- Shoulder injuries from lifting or falling
- Knee and leg injuries from landing or lifting
- Wrist sprains
- Pulled groin injuries
- Shin Splints
- Cardiac incidents like heart attack or stroke
What to Do if You are Injured While Exercising
- Seek medical attention. Doing so immediately will document your injury and provide important evidence about its nature and severity.
- Take photos. Get on-site images of faulty equipment, tripping hazards or other causal conditions, and of your injury.
- Get the contact information of witnesses. If other gym members saw what happened, they can be valuable assets to your case.
- Gather documentation. Medical bills, images from Xray or MRI, EMT reports and transport records, and any other documentation related to your injury.
- Contact a personal injury attorney. Representation by a lawyer with experience in personal injury litigation is your best chance being compensated for your injury.
Factors that Determine Gym Injury Compensation
Before you consider suing a gym for negligence, there are certain things that must be established. Your lawyer will ask you numerous questions and request any documentation you have collected, including medical bills and records, witness reports and photos of the injury scene.
Your lawyer will also investigate how the fitness facility handled the incident, whether they filed an incident report, whether emergency procedures were followed, and whether any employees were involved in or witness to the incident.
In order for you to have a viable lawsuit, three fundamental things must be established:
- Negligence: To prove negligence, your lawyer will need to establish whether the fitness facility and/or its agents either did something they should not have done, or neglected to do something they should have done. For example, if the locker room floor was wet and you slipped and fell, were caution signs in place? Or if a piece of exercise equipment broke while you were using it, was it properly assembled and maintained?
- Liability: Once negligence is established, you will have to prove that the defendant’s negligence actually led to the incident that caused your injury. For example, maybe the treadmill had not been properly maintained, but you fell because your were looking at your phone and not paying attention to what you were doing.
- Your part in the incident: It will have to be made clear whether you contributed to the circumstances that caused your injury. For example, your tore your rotator cuff while lifting weights that were too heavy for you because your were trying to show off to your friends.
Surviving Financially While Your Case Settles
The truth is that personal injury litigation is a long game. Even if you are clearly an innocent victim, a gym injury lawsuit can take months or even years to settle. Your lawyer will have to gather evidence to build a compelling case, and negotiations with the gym’s insurance company will take place.
Once your case makes its way into the court system, you will have to wait your turn for the court to review your evidence and that of the negligent party. They may request more evidence, or your case may be pushed back in the docket. Meanwhile, if your injury prevents you from working, you will have to figure out how to pay your monthly expenses, along with mounting medical bills.
Gym Injury Lawsuit Funding
Lawsuit legal settlement companies like Cronus Capital Group exist to help personal injury victims like you survive while you wait for your case to settle. All you need to qualify for cash advance funding is to have an attorney who believes you have a good chance of getting a compensation award for your gym injury.
The amount of your cash advance loan will depend on the particulars of your case. In most cases, once you are approved, the funds will be available within 24 hours. There are no monthly payments to worry about. Cronus gets paid from your settlement amount. If you lose your case, you’re completely off the hook.
If you were injured at a gym in New York through no fault of your own and you have an attorney to represent your case, contact Cronus Capital Group. Phone us at one of our convenient locations in NYC or Queens, or fill out our easy online application, and get financial relief now while you wait for your case to settle.
