Attorney Steve Caya, of Wisconsin firm Nowlan & Mouat LLP, successfully settled a case on behalf of a 19 year-old girl who sustained a concussion and a burst fracture to her L2 vertebrae. The Plaintiff was attending a party when the balcony collapsed causing her to fall 10 to 15 feet and land on her back. Immediately, she was in severe pain and was rushed to the emergency room where a CT scan of the injury site showed the fracture. The injury required a fusion surgery with extensive hardware to hold the vertebrae together. With highly contested liability and no definitive external signs of injury, Attorney Caya needed a method of conveying the severity of his client's spinal fracture.

The DK Global team decided that 3D still images would provide the best viewpoint for the localized injury at the most efficient cost. Using the Plaintiff's medical documentation and radiology images, DK animators produced one board with realistic and vivid recreations of the L2 fractures from multiple angles. Each of the fracture components is labeled to convey their significance. The vertebrae itself is depicted outside the spine to show the fracture details otherwise obscured by the discs. The second board produced featured two angles of the Plaintiff's post-surgical hardware. Both illustration boards were able to relay the most important components of the injury and showed how the collapse of the balcony has impacted the teen. Equipped with the images, Attorney Caya secured a $1.5 million settlement, ensuring his client would not be troubled with medical bills as a result of the incident.

"I have no doubt the medical illustration of [Plaintiff's] back injury was instrumental in achieving this result." - Steve Caya, Esq.