# Internal Decapitation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253 "2005-05-31T18:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/1 "2005-05-31T18:58:32Z")
Last night I caught the tail end of one of those medical reality programs in which a young boy survived, and fully recovered from, an “internal decapitation”. :eek: Unfortunately, since the show was nearly over, I missed the description of how the accident happened or what the injury actually was, with all the gooshy computer graphics and everything. So, what on earth is an “internal decapitation”, and how is it even possible to survive one?? ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/2 "2005-05-31T19:02:48Z")
Google sez that that’s where the skull becomes disconnected from the top of the spinal column. I was too chicken to click on any of the links to find out more. :eek: _bawk bawk bawk_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/3 "2005-05-31T19:13:24Z")
Can you be Internally Disemboweled? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/4 "2005-05-31T19:15:07Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > So, what on earth is an “internal decapitation”, and how is it even possible to survive one?? **Lizardling** got the gist of it. It is survivable if the spinal cord is uninjured. One way to look at an internal decapitation is as a really severe joint injury. A dislocated elbow or knee is not fatal. Same with an internal decapitaition, provided that vital nerves are not severed. Events leading to internal decapitations are predicatbly flukey. Former NBA player Rudy Tomjanovich suffered an internal decapitation after being punched by an oponnent. The punch caught Tomjanovich more or less unaware … IIRC, he pretty much turned into tKermit Washington’s moving fist. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/5 "2005-05-31T19:18:38Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > Google sez that that’s where the skull becomes disconnected from the top of the spinal column. I was too chicken to click on any of the links to find out more. Yep. I believe that Christopher Reeve suffered the same sort of injury, although I don’t know whether the term “internal decapitation” was in common use at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/6 "2005-05-31T19:19:48Z")
And, BTW, I saw that program, too, a while back. I think the kid had been injured in an automobile accident. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/7 "2005-05-31T19:24:32Z")
[More info about Tomjanovich’s injury](http://flakmag.com/books/punch.html): > [@](#): > > On Sunday, May 14, 2000, the New York Times’ sports section carried a piece headlined “A Sudden, Violent Moment That Still Haunts a Life.” The piece was written by Kermit Washington, who in a 1977 NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets threw a punch that almost killed the Rockets’ All-Star forward, Rudy Tomjanovich. > > Washington’s punch shattered most of the bones in Tomjanovich’s face and actually knocked the top half of his skull out of alignment with the bottom half. Spinal fluid leaked into his mouth. Tomjanovich missed the rest of the '77-'78 season, returning the following year, and he eventually won $3.25 million in a lawsuit against the Lakers. The money, however, couldn’t drive away the nightmares and headaches. Tomjanovich eventually retired at the relatively young NBA age of 33. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/8 "2005-05-31T20:45:07Z")
Would this be the same thing as a basal spinal fracture? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/9 "2005-05-31T22:48:17Z")
Rudy T was the first guy I thought of, too. He pretty much ran headlong at top speed into Kermit’s spinning right cross. Horrific stuff. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Can you be Internally Disemboweled? I believe the term is “Spontaneous Pan-Corporeal Organ Rejection” ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/10 "2005-05-31T23:59:50Z")
Reminds me of that trick where you slice a banana while it’s still in its peel, using a needle and thread. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/11 "2005-06-01T00:38:19Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > Would this be the same thing as a basal spinal fracture? You’re thinking of basal skull fracture, which is a fracture in the base of the cranium, where the spinal cord enters the brain. There have been a number of race car drivers who have been killed as a result of that injury, most notably Dale Earnhardt. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/12 "2005-06-01T03:15:30Z")
That’s what I meant. How is this different? In the case of a basal skull fracture doesn’t the skull seperate from the uppermost cervical vertebra? Or is some structure in the base of the skull itself severing the spinal column? ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/13 "2005-06-01T13:19:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Can you be Internally Disemboweled? Yes. The technical medical term is “Dave’s Insanity Hot Sauce.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-decapitation/306253/14 "2005-06-01T13:27:09Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > That’s what I meant. How is this different? In the case of a basal skull fracture doesn’t the skull seperate from the uppermost cervical vertebra? Or is some structure in the base of the skull itself severing the spinal column? If I’m understanding this correctly, the difference is thus: **Basal skull fracture** – the skull itself is cracked or broken near the “skull-to-spinal-column” joint. The joint is essentially intact. **Internal decapitation** – no bones are necessarily broken. Rather, the ligaments that keep the “skull-to-spinal-column” joint in place are all torn. ISTM that the two injuries are not necessarily mutually exclusive.