HIS NECK BROKEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17569, 20 June 1925, Page 5

HIS NECK BROKEN.

W PATIENT RECOVERS. AMAZING SOUTHLAND CASE. (Special to the “ Star.”) INVERCARGILL. June 19. Yesttyday a London cable announced the unenviable experience of an eminent English surgeon, who was saved by his own efforts from probable death as a result of a dislocated neck. A still more unusual case is on record at the Southland Hospital. Seven ago a young man, nineteen years of age, was admitted to the hospital with a broken neck. He was partially paralysed, but life was not extinct. The doctors spared no effort in saving a life that hung by so feeble a thread. His neck was placed in a specially prepared splint and to-day he is on the road to complete recovery. The almost' fatal accident occurred at a football match at Wyndham. A young player attempted to stop the rush of a heavy forward by bracing his neck muscles and meeting his opponent with head down. The blow struck him on the side of the head and his neck snapped. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred death would have been instantaneous, but this time by a miracle the spinal cord was not severed. It was subject to pressure and for twenty minutes or so the unforunatc boy was completely paralysed. A little more, perhaps, just a fraction of an inch, and he would have been dead, but he was rushed to the hospital and arrived with a fighting chance of recovery. The neck was X-rayed. The pressure on the vital cord was relieved, and splints were applied. For a time his arms remained paralysed, but to-day he has almost recovered. The hospital authorities have taken a great interest in this remarkable case as the young man has survived what is generally accepted as a fatal injury.