A 28-year-old woman died of severe brain damage after an accident incurred while snowboarding in Colorado. The odd thing is, her accident didn’t cause any trauma directly to her head or brain. Jennifer Ash, of Indianapolis, IN, fell and landed hard on her buttocks while snowboarding on March 16. Ski patrol was not notified because the accident was assumed to be fairly minor.
Her friends did take her to a medical center where she was evaluated and sent to critical care at another facility. It was soon discovered that Ash had suffered a vertebral artery dissection which resulted in a basilar artery stroke brain damage. She was pronounced dead on March 23, seven days after her accident.
Vertebral artery dissection is caused by a whipping action of the neck which hyper-extends side to side. Blood flow is significantly reduced, leading to damage of the oxygen-starved portions of the brain.
So if there are any snowboarders or other extreme athletes out there, be careful! And, more importantly, know the risks of your sport and of this specific type of injury. If you tweak your neck, be sure to get medical treatment immediately just to be on the safe side.
Have you experienced or heard about similar rare or freak accidents? If so, leave a comment. I’d like to hear about it.