If a member of your family has been injured in an accident, the news will come as a bolt from the blue, and you may feel helpless as to how you can assist them. The problem is that everyone is different, and while some family members might welcome your help, others will take it as an infringement on their pride and independence and actually respond negatively towards you.
Contributing to this is the fact that you are family. It is relatively easy to offer help or assistance to a friend because if they reject it or take it the wrong way, you can let the relationship cool off. However, with family, you don’t have that luxury.
Of course, if a family member has suffered an injury, they may need your help regardless of how they think it might affect their personal pride. Daily tasks such as taking out the trash, restocking the fridge, and walking the dog can become impossible, while they might become lonely and cut off from the rest of the world. Offering your support, and actively trying to help out, can massively improve their recovery and boost their state of mind.
This is what to do if a family member has been injured in an accident:
Help to find them legal support
When a family member suffers an injury, they may need to pursue a legal case. This is common in slip and fall accidents or with dog bite injuries, where a third party is likely at least partly responsible. While they might insist on battling their case alone, this is unwise.
The legal system is incredibly complicated and time-consuming. The last problem your family member needs is to navigate it alone, with no prior experience, while recovering from an injury. Instead, offer to help them find a personal injury attorney who can help build them a case.
Offer to do their daily chores for them
Alternatively, you could offer to help out around the house, completing the tasks they can’t do in their current state. These chores might include feeding or walking their pets, doing their shopping, cleaning their house, or picking their children up from school.
You may find that they politely refuse your offer, a decision which you should respect. However, it doesn’t stop you offering again in the future, in case they change their minds.
Visit them often for moral support
Suffering from an injury is lonely. Your family member might not be able to see friends, go to work, or even take a walk in the park, so it might be a good idea to keep them company whenever you can.
Simply visiting them at home every week can massively boost their moods and encourage them to recover faster, rather than becoming preoccupied with their injury.
Help them with admin tasks
If you want to help your family member when they have been injured, you could take on some of their administrative tasks, which can quickly become overwhelming if you are in pain or don’t have your full set of faculties.
Sorting out their monetary affairs (with their consent), filing their letters, and even helping them remember what happened in their accident are all useful ways to help your family member in a time of crisis.