As its name implies, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks. A lot of you are thankful for your families. Some of you, for your jobs. But John Boyer is thankful for his head. And we're not talking metaphorically here. Quite literally, he's thankful that his head is still attached to his body.
Now That's A Head-Strong Man
In a story that seems almost too crazy to be true, NBC News conducted an interview with Boyer, who survived decapitation. The story goes like this: It was a blustery day in October and Boyer was a passenger in a car. His friend who was driving overcorrected, sending the car on a forward hurdle. It ended up flipping four times. Unfortunately, Boyer didn't have a seatbelt on. Therefore, he was thrown 200 feet. And he ended up decapitated – albeit internally.
"It's where the patient's skull actually becomes disconnected from the upper cervical spine," said Douglas Wong, Boyer's surgeon.
Considering what happened to him, it's nothing short of amazing that Boyer is going to be OK. Speaking to NBC with a pretty gnarly neck brace on, he said he almost feels like he shouldn't be here given how lucky he was. And that's true. By not wearing a seatbelt, Boyer placed himself at extraordinary risk, and ultimately his life ended up on the line. It is by a stroke of extremely good fortune that Boyer is alive and talking today.
Yet the internal decapitation Boyer suffered isn't entirely unheard of. In 2012, The Daily Mail UK reported on a female who experienced a similar situation where a car accident left her head separated from her spine. Both she and Boyer aren't only alive, but also aren't paralyzed, and considering what they went through, that's truly something to be thankful for.
