WITH A BROKEN NECK

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 149, 21 December 1932, Page 11

WITH A BROKEN NECK

DISCLOSED BY X-RAY

"WALKED WITH DEATH"

(By Telegraph.) (Special to "The Evening Post.")- ' - AUCKLAND, 20th December. The c'aso of a man who walked'aboiit for seven weeks with a brpken neck has been brought to light by the admission to the Auckland Hospital of Samuel Flavell, of Northcote, who is now 'lying strapped to a steel frame. Doctors say. he practically with death," only escaping by the "fraction ol a millimetrp." ■■■..- Mr. .Flavell, who is 69 years of age,waa injured while riding in the front seat of a motor-lorry on Ist November.. The vehicle jolted; badly, over a deep r.ut, and he was thrown against the dashboard. "It was only a paltry jolt to cause such a lot of damage, and I did not attach, much importance to my injury, which I thought was merely a sore neck," he said...■.'. Although he suffered some pain, Mr. Flavell did not think it necessary to seek medical advice, and he continued to walkabout as though nothing had happened. Pour days- afterward he attended tho racea at Ellerslie. It was then that he noticed that his neck was so stiff that he could, not look up to read the totalisator .figures. He then decided to consult a doctor. The cause of the trouble "was not diagnosed, and Mr. Flavell continued to walk about in ignoranco that a minor jolt might kill him. ■ Ho suffered acute agony, and four days ago he was ordered by the doctor ti have an X-ray photograph taken at the ■ Auckland Hospital. It waa then revealed that he had. received a fractured dislocation of the cervical vertebrae. The spinal cord was missed by a mere hair-breadth, and doctors said tie' had taken a grave risk in, walking round in his condition, as the slightest jar would* have severed the spinal cord and killed him. Mr. Flavell is now lying on a steel frame with his head enclosed in a halter, which is fastened to the bed. The frame is raised at tho top end so that his body tends always to slip downward, thus bringing the strain to bear on the neck. In this way it is hoped to looser the muscles preparatory to straightening the displaced vertebrae. - This 'is the third case of a fractured neck dealt with in Auckland during the' past year. In two cases complete recovery was effected, but in one case death ensued after the patient had been lying strapped to his bed for six months. In Mr. Flavell's, case there is every expectation of complete recovery.