10/9 Quote

This past week, I finished the book Concussion, by Jeanne Marie Laskas, and I started my second book, The Concussion Repair Manual, by Dr. Dan Engle. I am still on the intro, but it starts out by introducing the author and he tells a story about him cracking his head open, and how this started his obsession about brains.

"I dove from 20 feet headfirst off of a pier into knee high water. This abrupt landing on a sandbar, which felt like getting blindsided by a dump truck, resulted in a compression fracture of my C5 vertebra and a newly acquired vulnerability" (Engle xvi).



This quote connected to me because the author then goes on to talk about vulnerability, and how the head and neck is the humans spot of vulnerability. This was interesting to me because I had never thought of it like that before. The head and neck area is the worst spot to injure on the human body, and yet people continuously put themselves out there for injury. Jumping off of a pier seems like it will turn out fine, until you break your C5 vertebrae. This was a huge wake up call for the author, and it made him go to medical school and become a neurosurgeon. Although it does not inspire me to do that, it is proof that life can change in a matter of seconds, and I must cherish all the time I have as an able bodied human.