It could happen to anyone. One day you could be healthy and successful, providing for your loved ones and enjoying life. The next day you could suffer a job-related injury and be unable to move, losing your ability to get to work.
For one man, it became a reality after a fall left him with a chronic back injury. Though he could no longer perform his job duties, he was able to find a job in the food service industry. Unfortunately, his back injury got worse after seeing a chiropractor.
If it wasn’t embarrassing enough already that he could not financially support his family as well as he used to, his back injury caused him so much pain that he could not move. At one point he was in the same position for two days until a friend came and got him to the hospital.
His family did not struggle as much initially because he received unemployment benefits. But now that those benefits are about to run out, he has been trying to get Social Security disability payments to help pay for necessities.
The article does not give any details regarding why he is having trouble obtaining Social Security disability benefits. Typically, receiving the benefits depends on whether the injury prevents him from working for at least a year. While this man’s back injury may not have been debilitating initially, it currently renders him unable to move about without being in a lot of pain.
Hopefully he will qualify for and receive those disability benefits, especially with the holidays coming up.
Source: Tulsa World online, “Back injury debilitates single father,” Mike Averill, 08 December 2010