Just the mere thought of a dislocated neck is unsettling, and yet newspapers from long ago shared detailed stories of those who were injured in some of the most gruesome ways.
Hi everyone. This is Elizabeth from StrangeAgo and today we are going to explore some articles from the archives involving dislocated necks.
1. Keeps on Working
First, we will start off light with a 1918 article from out of Wisconsin.
“William Morrison, [sawmill proprietor], was caught in the machinery and his neck dislocated. He called a mill hand, who twisted his head until the dislocated bones snapped back into their sockets. He worked through the day, but is now in bed. The doctor says that apparently the spinal cord escaped injury.” [Source]
2. Chisel Operation
The only thing more frightening than a dislocated neck is having doctors from over 100 years ago operate on it. That’s what this 1897 article is all about:
“[It’s been] Some time since we mentioned the accident to William Conway, who fell from a box car in New Vienna, and dislocated his neck. A two hundred pound weight was used to pull the vertebra into place. But it seems the operation was not so successful as at first reported, and a second operation was necessary…
“[The] heroic operation was performed upon Conway, who, for the past month, has been completely paralyzed… An attempt to press the vertebra back into place had proved futile, so the neck was cut open directly over the fifth cervical vertebra, and it was found to be fractured and resting upon the spinal cord. The bone was chiseled away until the spinal cord was exposed and all pressure removed. The incision was then closed, and Conway rallied nicely.” [Source]
3. Fixed With Weights
Eight years later, another operation was performed on a different man suffering from a dislocated neck. The article, from 1905, states:
“Several doctors were interested spectators at the Williamsburg hospital today, when a strange operation was performed to reset the dislocated neck of E.L. Pape, a clerk, 22 years old, who was thrown from a trolley car at Brooklyn last night.
“When Pape, who had landed on his head and shoulders, was removed to the hospital it was found that he had dislocation of the spine at the sixth cervical vertebra. He was conscious, but the accident had paralyzed his nervous system and he was unable to move a muscle or talk. He lay in that condition for eight hours.
“The doctors decided that the only way to reset the dislocated spine would be to attach heavy weights to the patient’s shoulders and let them hang over the head and foot of the bed. This was done, and, with the weights pulling on Pape’s body, the physicians gradually worked the dislocated vertebra back into place.
“At the conclusion of the operation the sense of feeling came back to Pape and he was able to talk. He will be in the hospital for several days until the soreness disappears.” [Source]
4. Dangerous Dive
Once when I was young I dove into the shallow end of a pool and nearly cracked my head. Since then, I have been extremely careful when playing in water, which is why this next article terrifies me.
From out of South Carolina, 1908:
“A peculiar accident happened near here on Sunday when Mr. William Thomas, a fireman…, dislocated his neck while swimming in the Rocky River. Mr. Thomas weighs about 300 pounds, and he plunged in the river. His head struck on the bottom of the river and his neck became dislocated. The attending physicians do not give much hope for recovery.” [Source]
5. Set Neck
But let’s get back to those who lived and check out this article from 1913:
“The lives of two young men, suffering from unusual injuries, have been saved at Culver Union Hospital. Raymond Mahan, thirteen…, suffered a dislocated neck when chopping wood at his father’s farm. He was hurried to this city in an automobile, where the neck was set. When the doctor was making the examination of the injury preparatory to giving the patient an anesthetic for an operation, he told the assisting physician he believed he could heal the injury without an operation.
“Grasping the boy’s head he lifted it upward until he felt the muscle relax, and then he moved the head slightly to one side, thereby causing the dislocated vertebrae to snap back into place. The spinal cord had not been pinched.
“Frank Zimmerman was brought here… with a fractured skull. A piece of his skull four inches long and one inch wide was removed. Zimmerman suffered his injury when making an exit from an opera house on a fire escape.” [Source]
