[ricki]

Some comments and ideas from an Emergency Physician follow. It would be good to receive the comments and opinions of other members and from various areas of practice. Even with the relatively small membership at this point, the broad diversity of training, experience and perspective from various parts of the medical profession is impressive.

"Case #1

I’m not sure what to make of this. A 6m kite in 16kt gusts is very unimpressive energy. That being said, it does not take as much force as you would think to break a cervical vertebra. Many people are paralyzed every year diving into pools. I see several a year at my hospital from body surfing as well. So the question becomes; how shallow was the water and what were the chances of impacting the bottom? Another mechanism consideration is the eponym for a C2 (pedicle) fracture which is a hangmans fracture. Judicial hangings cause extreme hyperextension displacing C2 forward on C3, which is the same mechanism in diving and motor vehicle collisions. Was a chicken loop not being used, or is it possible that a gust or mishandling of the kite could have caused the bar to impact under the chin? It is certainly possible that there could have been a preexisting condition or injury, but that is purely conjecture until an autopsy is available. This seems more of a freak incident than an avoidable injury."