By: Brett Windsor, PT
Today provided us with a tragic reminder that although it is an exceedingly rare event, the vertebral artery remains vulnerable to blunt force trauma. Australian International Cricket batsman Phillip Hughes, 25, passed away today two days after being struck during a game by a bouncer, in the neck just below the occipital bone. Phillip was through his stroke before the ball arrived and unfortunately exposed his posterior neck region to what effectively was a 5 ounce bullet traveling at 90mph.
Article related to the accidentÂ
NAIOMT offers it’s deepest sympathies to all who were close to Phillip Hughes and our thoughts are with Sean Abbott, who was involved in nothing other than a tragic, tragic accident. Phillip’s untimely death is a reminder to us all of the fragility of life and how quickly things can change for any of us. On today of all days, Thanksgiving, we should cherish family and friends, and never forget that although we all love what we do in physical therapy, there are many, many things more important.
naiomt.me 
Thanks for posting this Brett. It’s sad to hear of this fellow’s passing with such a freak accident, but I hope that his story is in the back of our heads as manual therapists the next time we are evaluating the acute MVA since you and the NAIOMT faculty taught us that it doesn’t take much force to potentially compromise these small vessels.. Really sorry to hear about this…
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Appreciate it, Steve.
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