BROKEN NECK SURVIVED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 29 July 1932, Page 7

BROKEN NECK SURVIVED

BOY’S RECOVERY COMPLETE ACCIDENT AT NEW PLYMOUTH PARALLEL TQ AUCKLAND CASE “A remarkable recovery from a serious neck -injury, received through her head striking the sea bed while diving, lias been made by an Auckland girl, Miss Molly Bailey, of Dominion Road,” began a paragraph in a recent issue of “The Mail.” Those words apply just as completely to a similar case that occurred at New Plymouth towards the end of January (reports the “News”). Earle T. Coleman, aged 16, the son of Mr P. A. Coleman was admitted to the New. Plymouth hospital on 25th January suffering from wliat was found to he a definite fracture of the body of the vertebrae and slight displacement —commonly known as a broken neck. Coleman was bathing in a pool in the Henui river and in diving he misjudged the depth of the water and like the Auckland girl’s, his. head struck the river-bed with considerable force. He was brought to the surface and, although not unconscious, was removed to hospital, where an examination revealed slight paralysis of the right arm, and an X-ray confirmed the fracture.

The same treatment was followed at New Plymouth as at Auckland—the patient was strapped immovably .to boards for a and later liad the neck encased in plaster. Coleman suffered no pain, after the first few days and left the -hospital after three months. Since the end of April, he lias been doing light tasks with ease, but as a precautionary measure the hospital authorities still insist on the wearing of the plaster, jacket.. The Auckland report indicated ■ that the girl had completely recovered, being now able to swing a golf club without the slightest inconvenience. Although ,Coleman has not yet reached, quite that state of recovery, inquiry at : the hospital elicited the information v tliat it is only , a matter of time, to give the -vertebrae a chance to knit properly, and Coleman will be again able to indulge in sports and normal exertion as strenuously as any person who has-not experienced the ’-fame of suffering ’ a broken neck.

A coincidence in the two cases is the fact revealed that Mrs J. W. Bailey, Auckland, mother of Miss Bailey, 'and Mrs F. A. Coleman, mother of the New Plymouth boy, are old friends and Auckland neighbours.