Hi, I'm Patrick Hartwig, a Social Security Disability Attorney in Massachusetts. Donald had been a union laborer for over 26 years when he fell off a ladder at work just after he turned 52. Though he knew he might be eligible for workers' compensation benefits and did, in fact, apply, he didn't even think about applying for Social Security Disability, even though he had been paying into the system his whole life.
A person like myself, you know, you don't really know the steps to take. There's a lot of confusion, a lot of uncertainty. When I went and saw Patrick, he told me what it was he could do, you know. It's just nice being able to have somebody that knows what they're doing when you're in a position where you don't know what to do, what the steps are.
When Donald came to me, it was obvious he could no longer work. In addition to his back injury, he also suffered from type 1 diabetes that was spinning out of control. Despite the fact that Donald led a very healthy lifestyle and did literally everything his doctors asked of him, there's a lot of uncertainty when you're going through something like that. You don't know what's going to go on, you don't know what's ahead in your future. You're unable to work, how are you going to pay your rent, pay for your food, pay for, you know, how are you going to exist?
By the time we got to a Social Security hearing, Donald had been out of work for two years and had attempted all sorts of different methods to treat the pain that he was in, but nothing helped. He basically did everything that it took, everything that I didn't know how to do. It was very, very comforting having somebody on your side that knows what they're doing.
At the hearing, between a combination of the objective medical evidence of the diabetic neuropathy and the back pain, we were able to establish that Donald would not be able to do any full-time job that existed anywhere in the United States, much less work as a union laborer. He answers all your questions, he puts you at ease, he tells you what the steps are that you're going to be going through, not just what you're going through now but what's going to be ahead in the future. And it's, I would recommend them. The best endorsement I could give is, you know, go to them. That's the best endorsement I could give. It's like going to a restaurant. If you enjoy the meal, you go back. With Patrick, I would go back.
Now, I imagine you may have questions that are specific to you. Give me a call. I can answer your questions. Social Security Disability is all I do. I'm Patrick Hartwig. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.