A FALL from a horse left a woman with such a severely broken neck she was forced to pick up her own head. Thea Maxfield, who runs a stud farm in Oxfordshire, England, suffered a "hangman's break" a clean break of the upper cervical vertebra when she fell from her dressage horse. She tried to get out of the animal's way as it galloped around after the fall, but when she tried to pick herself up, the horrified 26-year-old found her head stayed where it was. Realising she had to move to avoid being stomped on, Ms Maxfield cupped her hands around her own head and lifted it into place to avoid damaging her spinal cord. "As soon as I came off the horse I knew something was wrong. I went to get up but my head stayed on the floor,'' she told the Daily Express. "I couldn't move my neck or my head and I had to literally pick my head up and carry it in my hands." After managing to stagger to safety, Maxfield, watched by her frightened mother Diane, 66, was taken to hospital. Doctors initially warned she may be permanently paralysed. But incredibly after using a revolutionary fixed brace connected to a computer by tiny sensors for three months to help fuse the bones back together, she is now back riding seven months after the accident. Source --- Dang...
And the idiot got right back on a horse; next she'll be picking up her ass off the floor... While orthopedic decapitations are known to be survivable, there is no cure for terminal stupidity. The fool and her horse
If you looked up orthopedic decapitations, you'll realized there's a lot of literature on it. While rare, it certainly isn't unheard of, I found several recent examples of it with a quick net search; ie. it is not as "freaky" as people would first believe.
lol ralph what's with the sudden fury, i mean if someone loves something and isn't able to do it they'll rather die. she has a second chance to do what she likes and she isn't going to let even a life threathening experience prevent her from doing again. Seems stupid to me cause i wouldn't have the balls to do it again but others would call it brave.
LOL, no... certainly not fury. But I'm nonetheless rather dumbfounded that anyone who was so severely injured by any event, would then knowingly tempt fate a second time. No matter her love of the sport, that to me is monumental stupidity. Given that her bones are now fused together, in essence, giving them structural rigidity at the loss of flexibility, any additional injury may prove catastrophic. ie she won't so easily walk away from the next fall. While some may classify that as brave, I consider it a form of Russian Roulette; a game that one is bound to eventually lose if one plays long enough at it.
Ralph all your examples came from car collision..... this is from riding a horse.... freak accident stands.
I beg to differ. Forgive me, but I think what is being ignored here is the potential for any sudden impact with strong enough force could result in such an injury. Falling from a galloping horse could easily mimic the kinetic properties of a motor vehicle collision. My point was, that such injuries, unlikely as they are, are nonetheless not considered unique enough to be classified as freakish. Statistically, it has been said that equestrian accidents leading to serious injury out pace that of motorcycle accidents by almost 20 times. This is easily understandable, as a horse rider can be ejected (thrown) at a speed of over 40 miles per hour from a height of 3 or more meters onto a variety of surface environments. If one can imagine the potential for injury traveling on a motorcycle at 40 MPH and then being thrown off from a height of only one meter, then one should realize that the prospects of injury at the same speed but from over three times that height (typical for horse riding), should only be worse. Moreover, (as noted previously), her bones have since been rigidly fused in order to prevent her routine movements from crushing her spinal cord and killing her. Because of this, her neck no longer has her original natural flexibility. Another similar accident would probably snap those fused bones, crush her spinal cord (like the true intent of a Hangman's Break would) and kill her, hence my suggestion that she was afflicted with terminal stupidity (as she willfully chose to continue doing something at deadly risk). Hence, I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that this was a freak accident. IMHO, falling from a horse and breaking one's neck is not so unanticipated an event which a phrase like "freak accident" would imply. In fact, it is rather an already anticipated risk and danger inherent in this particular sport. If she had been riding a horse and then she was, say... struck by a plane falling from the sky; then that would be a "freak" accident. Inotherwords, she was riding and had broken her neck after her fall, but was lucky not to have severed her spinal cord in the process; else she would have been simply another Christopher Reeves (the star of the Superman movies) type of paralysis injury. Thus, while the overall injury result may generate plenty of sensationalist headlines, I continue to be of the opinion that the mechanism of injury (by reason of multiples of similar preexisting examples) certainly wouldn't be considered unique or freakish at all.
i understand your view that if it caused a disastrous event, then don't do it in the future but here's the thing. motor vehicle racing has been around forever, and countless crashes have been witnessed. does that stop the driver from racing ever again? a lot of them say no (tv documentary source). so if you are driving, and sustain a critical injury from a car crash, would that stop you from ever riding in a motor vehicle? if you love your hobby with passion, it is understandable for individuals to continue their hobby, even after a disastrous event. it just shows to prove that their love for their hobby outweighs the risk of injury. this does not mean stupidity. she did not CHOOSE to injure herself. it happened accidentally. if she has chosen to lie down when a horse is galoping towards her, then that's stupidity. but she did not choose so. stupidity only occurs when there's actus reus and mens rea; the user must have the intention of doing stupid things. choosing to continue horseback riding and continue her passion for the sport is not intent of commiting stupid acts. UFC example: people fight, people get injured. people still fight. it just goes to show that their love for the sport outweighs the risk of injury. this is not stupidity. Hockey: people get checked, and can suffer concussions, possibly career-ending concussions. if they survive, they still play. this shows their love for their sport, not stupidity. if you want stupidity, watch jackass (or jackass 3D as it's coming out). when people do stupid shit like in jackass, that's when they deserve to get shot. but if people get injured while doing the sport they love, it shows passion. there's a difference between passion and stupidity. i very much respect nearly most of your posts on PA, but i'm going to have to disagree with this one. i believe the choice is yours to make whether you choose to continue to part-take in an activity that has caused you critical bodily harm, however to accuse someone who chooses to continue their activities as stupidity is silly.
^ I think the examples you have given are driven by money However, I'm sure there are people out there that does things that are stupid but have great passion while doing so...
