Question
My husband is currently awaiting a court date for an "assault occasioning actual bodily harm" charge for something he didn't do and is facing up to 7 years jail if found guilty. My husband and the postman had a verbal argument and after the postman was notified that we had placed a formal complaint with Australia Post he went down to the police station and said that my husband hit him in the back of his head with his hand and wanted my husband charged with common assault. 2 weeks later he went to the doctor and complained of a sore neck. The doctor says "in his opinion" the postman has a fractured his C1 vertebrae which means the charges were upgraded. The man was on a post bike and was wearing an approved open faced motorcycle helmet and was proceeding to ride away slowly at the time of the alleged attack. After the alleged incident he continued to deliver mail etc. Unfortunately as we live in a very small town and he is a local the police did not want to hear anything my husband or the next door neighbors had to say, they just lodged it straight with the court. We cannot afford a lawyer so I am trying to get as much information as possible. My question is could a C1 fracture be caused by a hit in the back of the head by someone's hand, if he was hit hard enough to fracture the C1 wouldn't he have been dislodged from his bike and could he have continued to deliver mail and not even see a doctor for 2 weeks with that sort of injury? I have been told it takes a force of around 56kg to fracture a C1 vertebrae and that it would cause extreme pain straight away.

Thank you in advance.

Answer
Beck,
A C1 Fracture is the most dangerous fracture that there is in the body.  It can cause death anytime that it occurs, and on a lesser note has been known to cause paralysis.  It can be possible to sustain a C1 fracture that did not implode onto the brainstem and still have proper function.  I would think that it would be a hairline fracture and not a complete one.  I could tell you much more if you were to send me the pictures of the spine to see for myself.  Example:  Christopher Reeves had a C1 fracture and look at the kind of life he had ever since.  Vital function was lost and he needed the aid of a machine just to breath.
Yours in Best Health,
Dr Arnone
Upper Cervical Specific Doctor
"Brainstem Specialist"
Arnone Clinic
711 Old Ballas Road Suite 104
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
314 995 5719
[email protected]
www.AchieveSuperHealth.com