
Did you or a family member lose a limb because of someone else's mistake?
Losing an arm, a leg, a hand, or a foot changes everything about daily life. You do not have to sort out what comes next alone.
Are you in an emergency right now?
- Check for heavy bleeding and apply firm pressure with a clean cloth.
- Call 911 if bleeding is heavy or a limb is severed.
- Keep the injured area elevated if you can.
- Get to a hospital right away, even if bleeding seems controlled.
- This page is for after you are safe.
This page covers amputation claim deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.
More than 5.6 million people in the United States live with limb loss or limb difference, and about 465,000 new amputations happen each year (Prevalence of Limb Loss study). Many amputations are medical, but a large share come from trauma: a workplace accident, a crash, or a delay in care that let a treatable problem turn into an emergency (CDC on diabetes-related amputation).
Why amputation cases are easy to undervalue

A blood clot, a crush injury, or an infection can be treatable in the early hours and life-changing a day or two later, if care is delayed. Get your medical records early so a delay in care is documented.
Lifetime costs are hard to estimate early. A prosthetic limb (an artificial replacement) needs replacing every few years, and needs change with age and activity level. An early settlement offer rarely accounts for a lifetime of devices and lost work capacity. Talk to an advocate before you consider any offer.
Phantom limb pain and emotional loss are real and ongoing, but often left out of fast settlement talks because they are harder to put a number on than a hospital bill. Document how the loss affects your daily life, not just your medical bills.
Protect your case
- See a hospital, lab, or doctor to document your condition and get a plan for wound care, prosthetics, and physical therapy.
- Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
- Ask for your complete medical records in writing, including notes from the days before the amputation.
- Write down a timeline: when symptoms started, when you sought care, what you were told, and when the decision to amputate was made.
- Keep every bill, prosthetic fitting record, and note of missed work in one place.
- Warning: don't wait! The filing deadline is a trap. It is different in every state, so people wait, and waiting kills cases. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and documents get lost. Talk to an advocate immediately. Medical-care deadlines can be shorter, so do not assume the standard rule covers a hospital case. Find your state on our state pages.
Never do these

- Never give a recorded statement to an insurance company, even your own. Talk to an advocate first.
- Never assume nothing could have been done differently before a medical and legal review of your timeline.
- Never sign a release or accept a first settlement offer before you talk to an advocate first. Once you sign, you may not be able to undo it.
- Never post about your injury or recovery on social media. Insurers use these posts against you.
What real amputation cases have paid
These are publicly reported results. They are examples only, and we are not a law firm. No one can promise or predict what any case is worth, and many cases resolve for far less.
- $47 million verdict: a Georgia jury found a hospital and physician responsible after alleged negligence led to the amputation of a patient's arm and leg (Marietta Daily Journal).
- $32.7 million verdict: a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded a young man this amount after doctors failed to properly diagnose a blood clot that cost him his foot, a record for a lost leg or foot at the time (Chicago Lawyer Bulletin).
- $11 million verdict: a jury awarded an Indiana man this amount after finding the hospital responsible for a delay in his care that led to an amputation (NWI Times).
- $10.5 million settlement: a Louisville hospital left a sponge inside a woman after surgery, and the resulting infection led to an amputation (Yahoo News).
- $5.6 million verdict: a man was awarded this amount after a Tennessee medical center's care led to a leg amputation (WSMV News 4 Nashville).
Losing a limb carries real lifetime costs. The system can account for them when a case is handled well.
What we can help with
We help you understand what records support your claim, learn about state benefits and disability programs, and connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours. All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.
Talk to an advocate. It is free, and losing a limb is not something to sort out alone.
Sources
- CDC, Preventing Diabetes-Related Amputations: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/diabetes-complications/preventing-diabetes-related-amputations.html
- Estimating Recent US Limb Loss Prevalence and Updating Future Projections, ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590109524000892
- Marietta Daily Journal, $47 million verdict coverage: https://www.mdjonline.com/rural-jury-awards-47m-medical-malpractice-verdict/article_48b1589c-55c0-11ef-b87e-f79588f32723.html
- Chicago Lawyer Bulletin, $32.7 million Cook County jury verdict: https://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/cook-county-jury-awards-$32-7m-over-lost-foot-20231004
- NWI Times, $11 million Indiana jury verdict: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/jury-awards-northlake-patient-11-million-in-malpractice-lawsuit/article_e8311fdc-57f9-551b-ac3f-2b52518fb2de.html
- Yahoo News, $10.5 million Louisville settlement: https://news.yahoo.com/woman-gets-10-5m-louisville-191151895.html
- WSMV News 4 Nashville, $5.6 million verdict: https://www.wsmv.com/2025/06/03/man-awarded-56-million-malpractice-lawsuit-after-having-leg-amputated-medical-center/
- Deadlines vary by state. See /states/ for details.