In terms of seriousness, the cervical area of an accident victim’s spinal column is the most sensitive, because it is closest to the neck and the head. This area of the spinal cord makes up the vertebrae numbered C1 through C7.
Since the cervical area is closest to an individual’s brain, a cervical injury sustained in an accident can have grave consequences. For instance, a victim of a cervical spinal injury may suffer from tetraplegia or quadriplegia, which are two types of paralysis.
In addition to suffering from paralysis, a cervical spinal cord injury victim may have limited sensory abilities. In other cases, the accident victim may have to undergo a significant amount of physical therapy and other forms of rehabilitation to gain back some or all of their pre-accident abilities.
Cervical spinal injuries can be so severe that the accident victim is required to spend the remainder of their life in a nursing home or long-term care facility, where the accident victim is under constant medical supervision.
