Jeff Harris was on a beach in The Outer Banks, N.C., with friends, kicking a soccer ball in the surf. Diving for the ball in shallow water, he hit his head on the sand with such force that he couldn't move. He kept trying to lift his head but it became so tiring that he just let it dangle in the surf. He eventually passed out.
A nurse sitting on the beach nearby administered CPR, even after she was told to give up because he had no pulse. She revived him, however, and he was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he learned he had fractured his sixth vertebra. Harris, 30, is now paralyzed from the neck down. "That nurse was just hanging out with her family and said she was taking pictures of me because she thought I looked hot, running around on the beach," Harris says. "She may actually have one of the last pictures of me as a walking person."
To read the full, original article click on this link: Do Serious Beach Injuries Come in Waves?: Scientific American
