BROKEN NECK

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1932, Page 12

BROKEN NECK

MAN “WALKS WITH DEATH” CASE AT AUCKLAND. CAUSED BY JOLTING LORRY.- ' Auckland, Die. 20. The case of a man who.walked about for seven weeks with a broken neck has been brought to light by the admittance to the Auckland Hospital of Samuel Flavell, of Northcote, who now lies strapped to a steel frame. Doctors say he practically “walked with death,” only escaping by the “fraction of a millimetre.” Mr. Flavell, who’ is 69 years of age, was injured while I’iding in the front seat of a motor-lorry on November 1. Running over a rut in the road, the vehicle jolted badly, 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 walk about as. though nothing had happened. Four days afterward he attended the races at Ellerslie. It was then that he noticed that his neck was so stiff that he cduld 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 abdut in ignorance that a minor jolt might kill him. . He suffered acute agony, and finally four days ago he was ordered by the doctor to have an X-ray photograph taken at the Auckland Hospital. It was then revealed that he had received a fractured dislocation of the cervical vertebrae. The spinal cord was missed by round in his condition. The slightest jar, he liad taken a grave risk in walking a mere hair-breadth, and doctors said they said, would have severed the spinal cord and killed him. “Like a hanged man,” Mr. Flavell is now lying on a steel frame with his head enclosed in a halter, which is fastened to the bCd. The frame is raised at the 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 loosen the muscles preparatory to straightening the displaced vertebrae. This is the fourth 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.