# storys about people who brake there neck



## TallAdam85 (Jun 18, 2003)

In the WWE a wrestler Kurt Angle Has a Broken Neck Now he is coming back to wrestle so this game me a topic.
Has Anyone ever broke there neck in Martial arts Or known someone who has. And if you did or did they go back to it and what do u think about it.


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## TallAdam85 (Jun 18, 2003)

I think anyone who comes back to Martial Arts with a broken Neck is crazy but very brave. I think it can be done but they must be realy carefull. But for kurt angle I think he is going to criple him self this is the second time he broke his neck.

what u think?


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## MartialArtist (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm sorry, I don't follow the WWE.  But was the Kurt Angle incident REAL, or was it some soap opera plot that WWE had going?  I remember a bunch of those type of things, where one guy said he was hospitalized (Big Show) when he was just taking a break, when The Rock went to jail (he took time off to make those movies) and so on.  Is the Kurt Angle incident real or just a storyline conflict in the WWE?


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## Bob Hubbard (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm not certain about the Kurt Angle story.  I do know that Steve Austin did suffer a broken neck due to a failed move by the late Owen Hart a few years ago.  Austins had several surgurys, and is again looking at options to allow him to function better.  He has been told by doctors that to take an impact to his head could result in paralysis.  (I'm sumarizing here).

Personally, I think once youve had a good run, you shouldn't risk it.  Mick Foleys in his mid 30's and taken such damage that he's functioning like a much older person.  Terry Funk is a walking wreck, yet still does the hardcore stuff in his late 50's.

I think the key here is in the specifics of the injury.  Not all neck breaks are the same it seems.

Given the risks though, I don't think the end result is worth it.


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## Wmarden (Jun 19, 2003)

there is a broken neck and then there is a BROKEN NECK.  The lower case one is the bones, the upper case one is the spine.   Same thing with Gloria Estefan, they said she had a broken back when in reality she broke a vertebrete in her back.  To me a BROKEN NECK should just be used when talking about the spinal column.

As an aside they have been using amphetamines or possibly methamphetamines(it has been awhile since i read the study) to treat stroke victims along with physical therapy because it strengthens the nerve impulses.  I have wondered if it would work with spinal misadventures as well.  Seems to me it would not likely make matters worse.


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## Eggman (Jun 19, 2003)

im confused, i thought the vertebrae was the spine.  cervical, thorasic, and lumbar vertebrae are the bones of the neck and back, its when spinal cord damage occurs is when paralysis becomes an issue.


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## Cthulhu (Jun 19, 2003)

I always thought of the vertebrae as being part of the spinal column, which includes the bones and spinal cord.  It is possible to break your back/neck without damage to the spinal cord, which shouldn't lead to paralysis.

Then again, I am not a med student or physician, so I may be way off base here.

Cthulhu


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## pesilat (Jun 19, 2003)

A close friend and martial brother of mine (we tested for our instructorship together) got a "broken neck" in 2000 and has, basically, been out of training since then. He does train some, but has to take things very carefully.

His injury showed up during training, but wasn't caused by training as far as we know. He was performing a technique on someone and his neck locked up. Logically, what he was doing at the time _couldn't_ have injured his neck. Specifically, he was doing what we call a "puter kepala" in Silat. Aikido calls it a "kaiten nage." I think Judo calls it the same. But my friend was the guy doing the throwing, not the one being thrown. So we're reasonably sure that that moment's not actually when the injury occurred.

When he went to have it looked at and x-rayed, they found that 2 of his vertebrae were fractured. One of them had already calcified some ... which meant an older injury. The other was fresh. What we _think_ happened (but have no way of knowing for sure) is that the calcified vertebrae was fractured in a car wreck he'd had in 1999. It had healed some, but the other vertebrae either had a hairline fracture in it, or was just weakened. We think that something else actually fractured it, but we don't know what, and that when he was doing the throw, the fractured segments shifted.

Fortunately, there was no damage to his spinal cord, but he was laid up completely for several months.

However, another guy that I know (a chiropractor by profession) got his neck broken in a motorcycle accident. He said that the silver lining was that when he returned to training/teaching, that he _had_ to learn to do things without using brute strength. He became very soft in his material and had to really delve into his understanding. He said that, in the long run, he thinks the experience really helped his martial arts ... but he wouldn't advise others to take that route 

Mike


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## Wmarden (Jun 19, 2003)

Vertebret(damn what is plural, been out of school too long)  Anyway those are the bones.  The nerves go down through these bones.  The bones can indeed be damaged without damaging the nerves.   It damage to the nerves you need to be concerned about as there is very limited regeneration capabilities.  Hence the problems with Christopher Reeves basically being a life long affliction.


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