Navy SEAL Breaks His Neck and Makes a Miraculous Recovery
A Split Second Mistake Leads to a Broken Neck
A Timely Warning from Dr. Betsy Grunch
Recently, Dr. Betsy Grunch, known to many as Lady Spine Dock, shared a powerful and deeply important video on the dangers of diving into shallow water. Her message was urgent, compelling, and absolutely necessary, especially as summer brings more people to the pool and other bodies of water.
As a fellow spine surgeon and a parent, I want to sincerely thank Dr. Grunch for using her platform to raise awareness around this critical issue.
A Family Conversation Sparked
After watching her video, I immediately shared it with my own children and we had a meaningful conversation about how a single impulsive moment in the water can change a life forever. That video also reminded me of a patient I’ll never forget.
A Navy Seal whose spinal injury didn’t come from a dive, but from something just as unexpected and just as potentially devastating. This is a young gentleman who served our country as a Navy Seal. He has played a vital role in national defense, security, and community peacekeeping through his service in the military. And like many of our armed forces, his profession demands significant personal sacrifice, including extended time away from family and friends.
An Unexpected Tragedy
During a rare opportunity to spend some time with friends, he sustained a traumatic injury while swimming. A friend jumped into the pool attempting to land on this gentleman’s shoulders. He immediately lost all movement in his extremities, becoming quadriplegic and nearly drowning. His friends grabbed him from below the water and had to support his head above the water until emergency medical services arrived.
When they arrived, he had started to notice some movement in his legs again, but he still couldn’t move his arms. This raised concern for something we call central cord injury. It’s a type of spinal cord injury where the center of the spinal cord is damaged, often leading to more weakness in the arms than the legs because the nerve pathways for the arms run closer to the middle of the spinal cord.
A Serious Diagnosis
The CAT scan revealed a very unstable neck fracture where the C4 vertebrae had shifted forward over the C5 vertebrae beneath it. The joints in the back part of the spine called facetses had completely slipped out of place, jumping forward over the joints below them. This made the injury especially dangerous and put his spinal cord at serious risk for worsening injury.
The CT scan also revealed damage to his left vertebral artery, a major blood vessel that delivers blood from the heart to the back of the brain and brain stem. This artery travels through a narrow channel in the spine, and that space was suddenly narrowed when the bone shifted out of place. The MRI findings showed severe spinal cord compression and injury to the ligaments that support the spine.
Immediate Surgical Intervention
This required immediate surgical intervention to reduce the fracture, unpinch the spinal cord, and stabilize the spine at the level of his fracture. I opted to put hardware in his spine both from the front and the back while also ensuring wide decompression of his spinal cord and nice realignment of his spine.
He took aspirin to prevent a stroke from his vertebral artery injury and he was monitored closely to ensure the aspirin didn’t cause additional bleeding around his spinal cord. Fortunately, he made a remarkable recovery. He never sustained a stroke from his vertebral artery injury.
A Remarkable Recovery
He discharged to a rehabilitation facility 5 days after his injury and continued to make remarkable progress. Within 2 weeks, he was walking independently and had regained sufficient upper extremity function to feed himself again. By 6 weeks, he had near full recovery of both his upper and lower extremity strength, a significant improvement from the initial quadriplegia. And 5 years later, he continues to live a full and healthy life.
This story reminds me how fragile life can be and how resilient the human spirit truly is. From a near drowning and paralysis to walking out of rehab independently, this young man’s recovery wasn’t just physical. It was a testament to his strength, his will, and the power of quick action and precise surgical care.
A Final Word of Caution
But not every outcome is like this. Not every story ends in recovery. Please stay safe. Think before you dive and never let anyone jump onto your shoulders or head. A moment of fun can lead to a lifetime of consequences or worse, it can lead to the end of life.
And to all of our military and first responders, thank you so much for your service. God bless you.