Some of the things people survive with the combination of modern medicine and absolute, undeniable luck amaze me. A man, driving his truck, hit a tree and managed to suffer an internal decapitation, essentially removing his head from his neck, and still survive to tell the tale.
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While driving home, the 50-year-old farmer swerved his truck to avoid a pothole. Losing control, he careened into the side of the road and smashed into a row of trees. The truck flipped, and the farmer driving it was seriously injured. However, he remained conscious.
Emergency services rushed to his aid and pulled him from the wreckage. Their care and professionalism prevented further damage from coming to the man. Little did they know he had suffered an internal decapitation. Even slight trauma could have paralyzed the man forever, or even killed him.
The accident had torn the ligaments that connect the skull to the spine, but the doctors didn't know that yet. The skin was not broken at all, but due to the damage, the skull was able to move dangerously above the spine.
Quick Work By Surgeons Reattaches Decapitation
Doctors feared the worst for the decapitated man and searched for internal bleeding or brain oxygen deprivation. But scans showed that they had to instead reattach his head to his neck. The X-ray also showed fractures to the base of his skull.
The surgeon's amazing skill and quick response managed to reverse the damage done by the internal decapitation. The farmer was also given a neck brace to hold everything in place. He had to wear it for a total of 18 months.
He has made an almost full recovery, with some damage to his topmost vertebra. However, he is lucky to come out of the incident alive. Around 50% of people who suffer an internal decapitation will die. Most will be left with debilitating effects afterwards.
"Only a few people survive, and those that do are often irretrievably f* up," the man said in an online post. "I made a (mostly) full recovery." He still has a lot of stiffness in his neck after the surgery. He also has pain on one side of his face and trouble swallowing. But, for a man whose head came off and reattached, I think that's okay.
