Plaintiff obtains six-figure settlement after car crash impacted her daily life

The confidential plaintiff in this case lived a high functioning lifestyle, splitting time between Florida and Kansas City. A driver who failed to yield changed everything, leaving her with lingering injuries and pain that impacts her daily life.

Both parties in this settlement are confidential; an attorney for the defendant was not filed, and Laurie Del Percio of the Horn Law Firm in Independence represented the plaintiff.

The collision occurred in 2023 when the defendant driver failed to yield the right of way and struck the plaintiff’s vehicle.

“An ambulance responded. Upon arrival, responders noted significant driver’s side intrusion with side curtain airbag deployment,” according to Del Percio. “Plaintiff complained of left shoulder pain and left hip pain, and she was unable to exit the vehicle through the driver’s side due to extensive damage. Paramedics were required to extricate her through the front passenger side by pulling her right arm. Plaintiff was transported to the nearest trauma hospital.”

In the emergency department, Del Percio said her plaintiff reported a headache, neck pain, left shoulder pain, left rib pain, and left hip pain radiating into the groin. CT scans were performed but came back within normal limits and the plaintiff was discharged with a prescription and told to follow up with an orthopedic specialist.

At the first available appointment, the plaintiff was evaluated and sent to physical therapy. While attending physical therapy, Del Percio said her client tried to work through functional deficits that occurred after the accident, including difficulty dressing, bathing, reaching overhead and lifting or carrying groceries.

A few months after first attending physical therapy, the plaintiff returned to her specialist and said she was still suffering from bilateral shoulder pain. The doctor recommended corticosteroid injections to the right subacromial bursa. After these injections she was sent back to physical therapy.

Approximately four months later, she returned to the specialist again reporting continued pain and spasms to her shoulder. After taking an MRI of the shoulders, the doctor observed “significant bilateral rotator cuff pathology, including a high-grade tear of the right supraspinatus tendon and severe tendinosis and tearing of the left shoulder structures,” according to Del Percio. Surgery was recommended and a little over the year after the original collision; her providers operated, and she went back to physical therapy and wore a sling.

The injuries made it difficult for the plaintiff to cook meals, clean her house, run errands and care for her husband and grandchild, Del Percio said. It caused a complete disruption of her daily routines.

“The plaintiff was an excellent witness. She had a high functioning lifestyle where she did half her time in Kansas City, and then half her time she lived in Florida. And so, her treatment was more complicated, because half of her time she had to treat with doctors in the Kansas City area and then half of her time she had to have treaters in the Florida area over the course of multiple years,” Del Percio said. “But she was very diligent in following all of the treatment recommendations, and that helped for her to make an excellent witness.”

It is still difficult for her client to conduct her everyday activities, Del Percio said.

“Because she had injuries to both shoulders including her dominant arm, it made it more difficult and still does, to do simple every eight day activities that people take for granted, like taking a shower, styling their hair, lifting things, lifting like a milk jug, things like this were very challenging and continue to be,” she said.

The case settled in March for $404,642 including $155,762.14 in past medical and $138,374.45 in past medical written off.

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Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $404,642

Type of action: Motor vehicle collision

Venue: Jackson County Circuit Court at Independence

Case Number/Date: 03/02/2026

Injuries: Shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand

Special Damages:  $155,762.14 past medical (billed), $138,374.45 past medical (written off)

Caption: Confidential

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Laurie Del Percio of the Horn Law Firm, Independence.

Defendants’ Attorneys: None filed