Let’s talk a little about spinal cord injuries. A spinal cord injury is a very dangerous injury and can cause a lot of permanent problems. These especially apply to the way the body moves. Your spinal cord is the line of bones located in the middle of your back, it runs from your head down to your butt. It is almost like a chain keeping your body in tack. An injury to the spinal cord is known as a spinal injury. A spinal cord injury cannot just change the way you move but also change your life. 

The spine is made out of many vertebrae that are stacked up against one another. The vertebrae are protected by a bundle of nerves and different tissues. The nerves in the spine are connected to the base of the brain and move down the spine to the top of the buttocks, and the other parts of your body. 

Think of these nerves as cables, they send signals to the body and make it move and function. These nerves received signals from the brain and also from the body, these are replayed in different ways for the body to function properly. 

Let’s say that if you hurt your knee, the nerves in the knee will send a signal through the web of nerves in the body to the brain. Thus, signaling the knee pain, the brain will react to that and you will either move the leg or use your hand to hold it in place. The only reason that you feel the pain is that your brain receives signals that it hurts. These can only be conveyed through the nerves.

By hurting your spinal cord, you can hurt the nerves. If you hurt the lower back or break one of the vertebrae you can be paralyzed in the lower body. Damaging or breaking the spine closer up, towards the neck can cause the entire body to become paralyzed. The spinal cord is one of the hardest bones to repair and sometimes it just can’t be repaired.

How can a spinal cord injury occur?
A spinal injury is the least unpredictable and this is usually the time it happens, like a shock that the body gets. There are a few accidents or events that can cause damage to the spinal cord.  Here they are:
- A fall from a very high place or great height
- Violent attack, for example, a gunshot or stabbing of a knife
- Accident from an electrical object
- Diving into a pool, dam, or river that is very shallow and hits the bottom
- Hurting the neck or spine through a sports event
- A car accident where you experience trauma to the face, head, or neck
- Twisting your middle so far that the middle portion of the spine gets hurt

Symptoms of a spinal injury
Here are some symptoms of a spinal cord injury:
- Headaches
- Having difficulty walking
- Typical signs of a shock
- The trouble with your bladder or bowels. When you don’t have nice control
- Having to keep your head in an unusual passion so that it doesn’t hurt
- Having no ability to move the legs or arms
- Unconsciousness
- Pain, stiffness, and pressure in the neck or lower back
- Feeling numbness or tingling spreading to your extremities

What to do when a spinal cord is injured
If you have been injured or a friend has been injured and you suspect it is the spine injury, please do the following steps:
- First, call 911 as soon as possible. The sooner medical help is supplied the better.
- Second, do not try and move the person from where they are unless they are in very serious danger and you have asked them if it is okay if you move them. If someone has hurt their spinal cord, moving them can cause them to be paralyzed for the rest of their life. Also, do not take off a helmet or anything that can cause a move in the person’s body.
You must talk to the person to convince him or her not to move even if they feel they can. Make sure they wait until the medics are there to help.
-  If a person is not breathing, you can do CPR but don’t move the head back, just move the jaw forward. 

When a person is safe at a hospital a proper exam and care will be done immediately to make sure nothing further happens or goes wrong. Please remember to take a spinal injury seriously. This is not an injury you want to damage further.