Neck injury healing then a second injury. Happen often?

[Running_and_jogging]

I am new here and decided to get myself in college. I might want to work in billing I enjoy office work. I like reading this site. I probably should ask this in one of the other forums. Anyhow at my job I met a woman Her husband late thirties is now a complete quadriplegic. He cannot move anything at all except for his head and he will postively never, ever regain any movement below his head period. I was so got when she told me what happened. He had broke his neck at C4 and was recovering wearing a cervical collar. He was restless and bored. He tried to do something on their house with a ladder, he fell. He broke his neck again at C4 and this time it was a severe complete C4 spine break they had to put some rod in also. This broke my heart. How horrible' he was recovering and would be able to use tools and work on restoring cars that he loved doing. Then this happened and he spent five months in a hospital and then returned home from the hospital and in a wheelchair for life completely paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life using a sip puff control to move his wheelchair. He had to wear a soft collar for a long time after being home she said. I saw him using that sip puff control tube in his mouth like a straw. She said it has been a TOUGH adjustment for him. He now has to work using a computer and he will need full supervision he will have to stay inside the house most of the time for the rest of his life. Oh my goodness this is tragic. Has this happened before? How tragic I feel so sad about it.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

Of course people choose to do activities that they have been advised by their physician against doing. It happens all the time, often with tragic consequences such as this.

It is very sad that one bad decision changed his life forever, but people make bad life changing decisions all the time, and they can't go back in time and make a different decision.

This is the root cause of many of the most common conditions that we encounter as nurses.

[Running_and_jogging]

Yes I agree. I was just so surprised about how it happened I was thinking OH my gosh how terrible.