Ankle and Foot Injury Lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky

• Car crashes: in a frontal or offset crash, the floorboard and pedals push up into the driver’s feet. Footwell intrusion causes crushed ankles, heel fractures and broken bones in the midfoot. See head-on collisions.
• Motorcycle and moped crashes: a rider’s foot and lower leg are often trapped under the bike. See motorcycle injuries.
• Pedestrian crashes: bumper impacts often break the lower leg and ankle. See pedestrian accidents.
• Slips, trips and falls: uneven sidewalks, broken steps and potholes twist ankles. See sidewalk trip and falls and stairway falls.
• Workplace and construction falls: landing from a height often breaks the heel. See construction injuries.

• Ankle fractures (one, two or three bones, called unimalleolar, bimalleolar or trimalleolar). Many need surgery with plates and screws.
• Pilon fractures, where the lower shinbone is crushed into the ankle joint. These are high-energy injuries common in car crashes.
• Heel (calcaneus) fractures, often from footwell intrusion or falls from a height.
• Lisfranc injuries to the midfoot, which are easy to miss on early X-rays.
• Talus fractures, which can cut off blood supply to the bone.
• Severe sprains and ligament tears, including high ankle sprains.
• Achilles tendon ruptures.

Some of these injuries lead to post-traumatic arthritis, later surgery such as fusion, or chronic pain conditions. See CRPS and chronic pain and the broken bone recovery timeline.

• Emergency care, surgery, hardware removal and physical therapy
• Future medical care, including possible fusion or joint replacement
• Lost wages, and lost earning capacity if you can’t return to a standing job
• Pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life
• Scarring from surgical incisions

In a Kentucky car crash, a fracture meets the no-fault law’s threshold for a pain and suffering claim, as does more than $1,000 in medical expenses (KRS 304.39-060(2)(b)). PIP pays the first medical bills and lost wages up to $10,000.

Ankle injuries are often first called a “sprain.” If pain and swelling don’t improve, ask for follow-up imaging. Lisfranc and talus injuries are commonly missed. Keep every appointment and track how the injury limits walking, standing, driving and sleep. See the injury pain journal.

Most Kentucky motor vehicle injury lawsuits must be filed within two years after the injury or the last PIP payment, whichever is later (KRS 304.39-230(6)). Injuries from falls and other non-vehicle causes generally have a one-year deadline (KRS 413.140(1)(a)).

See our broken bone injury lawyer, hip injury lawyer and knee and shoulder injury lawyer pages.