Countdown to July 7

[BettyO]

Yesterday - we got into a discussion (albeit rather grisly) about death by hanging --

I looked it up and found this medical "report" -

With its relatively small diameter, lack of bony shielding, and close association of the airway, spinal cord, and major vessels, the human neck is uniquely vulnerable to life-threatening injuries. Throughout recorded history, various methods of strangulation (ie, disruption of normal blood and air passage in the neck) have been used by both assailants and penal systems to produce injury and death.

Hanging is a form of strangulation that involves suspension by the neck. Hangings can be classified as either complete or incomplete. When the whole body hangs off the ground and the entire weight of the victim is suspended at the neck, the hanging is said to be complete. Incomplete hangings imply that some part of the body is touching the ground and that ]the weight of the victim is not fully supported by the neck. Hangings may also be classified by intent (eg, homicidal, suicidal, autoerotic, accidental).

Significant cervical spinal cord and bony injuries are most common in hangings that involve a fall from a distance greater than the height of the victim. The prognosis in such injuries is dismal.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/826704-overview

It did not say anything about consciousness/loss of consciousness, etc.

The site listed below is more complete and thorough however a word of WARNING: it contains some rather graphically worded medical material:

http://forensicpathologyonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=121

Pretty horrendous and gruesome -- a ghastly and cruel way to die....