MMA fighter suffers broken neck and paralysis

dunkamania

Missed this until now. Its not all fun and games. Also highlights the issue that most US fighters face, that they have no insurance.

http://www.ketv.com/news/19578023/detail.html#

A 20-year-old man was paralyzed Saturday night in Shenandoah, Iowa, after breaking his neck in a mixed martial arts fight.

Now, Zach Kirk and his family are engaged in another fight, one that will play out in hospital rooms and physical therapy centers as the family hopes for a miraculous recovery.

Doctors have operated on the injured vertebrae in his neck but they don't know if he'll walk again.





"Pretty much I observed my heart being broken, seeing him like that," said Kirk's mother, Diana Kirk.

With two fights under his belt, Kirk's goal was to become a professional fighter in a sport that has, justifiably or not, garnered a brutal reputation. But fighters said the sport is no more dangerous than other contact sports. Kirk agrees, and so does his mother. They don't blame the sport for what happened to him.

"It's a real safe sport," Kirk said. "You just got to watch what you're doing."

His mother said accidents happen "at any time and any place."

The family shared the video of the fight with KETV NewsWatch 7.

Kirk is seen on the left in red shorts. The fight begins and Kirk initiates action with a right jab at his opponent. The two get tangled. Kirk was using a double-leg takedown to slam his opponent on the mat. The opponent went into a defensive position and ended up landing on Kirk's head. His neck breaks.

"You can see as soon as he hit, he was lifeless, just a limp body," said Kirk's trainer, Adam Miller.

The opponent was unaware of Kirk's immobility and kept fighting. The referee realized the situation and intervened. In seven seconds, Kirk's life had changed dramatically.

"I knew I couldn't feel nothing," Kirk said from his hospital bed. "I was just scared -- scared from right there."

The family said Kirk has no medical insurance. Fellow fighters and friends have begun organizing a benefit to help defray costs. For more information, visit TormentMMA.com.

Kirk's mother is hopeful, and she said she's holding out hope for his recovery.

"It's just going to be a long road ahead," Diana Kirk said. "There's going to be a lot of physical therapy to go through, but we'll make it. We'll do it."

rovert

This happened the same weekend:

Tue May 26, 2009 11:45 am EDT

Fighter Jessica Bednark in coma after training session
By Maggie Hendricks
Frightening news came out of Minnesota this weekend, as fighter Jessica Bednark fell into a coma after a training session.

When Bednark took her gloves and head gear off, she told gym owner Scott Kelm that her legs felt like jelly. She lay down and shut her eyes. When Kelm noticed that her breathing was shallow, he called 911. Bednark’s boyfriend, Jay Gould, said that the ambulance [technician] then noticed that one pupil was larger than the other, an indication of brain trauma. A catscan indicated a ruptured artery in Jessica’s brain. ”Whether it came from a vital blow or swelling on the brain, we don’t know,” Kelm said.

As originally reported on WFighter.com, Bednark went in for emergency surgery at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon and had part of her skull removed. She remains in ICU in a medically induced coma.

Bednark is 5-2, and was training for a June 12 fight against Adrienna Jenkins. Her family and friends are reporting that Bednark doesn't have health insurance, and they are accepting donations to help with her care. Click here for more information on donations.

With Bednark still in a coma, I hope that MMA's opponents don't use this as an opportunity to rail against the sport. Her injury is serious and scary, but rare. Bednark isn't the only other athlete who suffered a serious injury due to sports this weekend. Jockey Rene Douglas was likely paralyzed when he was knocked off his horse in a race at Arlington Park Racetrack in suburban Chicago this weekend. At this point, the last thing Bednark needs is condemnation of her or her sport. She needs prayers and support.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Fighter-Jessica-Bednark-in-coma-after-training-s?urn=mma,165528

chopperbyrne

Obviously both very tragic events, but why would you not have health insurance if you plan on being a fighter?

Sleipnir

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Obviously both very tragic events, but why would you not have health insurance if you plan on being a fighter?

Probably costs a lot of money in the States

dunkamania

In the US, MMA fighters either are refused health insurance because of their occupations, or are quoted prices that are ridiculously expensive. This extends all the way up to most of the UFC fighters.

Hephaestus

dunkamania wrote: »

In the US, MMA fighters either are refused health insurance because of their occupations, or are quoted prices that are ridiculously expensive. This extends all the way up to most of the UFC fighters.

Do other martial artists (boxers, wrestlers etc) in the US find themselves in the same boat or is it just a prejudice against MMA fighters?

cowzerp

Just adding to this, Rugby players commonly break there necks as do boxers get head injuries-far more serious injuries than MMA from both.

Roper

That's awful. Really horrible news and everyone's worst nightmare.

If you practise MMA or grappling, and I'd even say ANY combat sport, there are several things you would be wise to do.

1) Get first aid certified, and encourage several members of your gym to do the same. Many injuries are exacerbated by poor practise in the immediate aftermath of the accident and even knowing when to do nothing is really important.
2) Ban intentional neck cranks from your gym. I've recently barred someone from training in my gym for consistent flouting of that rule.
3) Tap early to anything that feels like it's creating undue pressure on your neck or spine. Tapping isn't quitting and you should never view it as such. A lot of cumulative damage is caused by things that feel innocuous.
4) Do specific neck and spinal warm ups and prehab exercises. NOT neck bridges unless you've been wrestling since you were 7. (Matt Furey has a lot to answer for)

The explosion in the popularity of this sport has been great and there are a lot of people training and starting training groups around the country. This is obviously a brilliant thing for the sport, but I also genuinely worry given some of the training practises I've seen in the last couple of years that people don't really understand the nature of what they're doing when they're grappling and attacking the neck.

celt2005

Roper wrote: »

That's awful. Really horrible news and everyone's worst nightmare.

If you practise MMA or grappling, and I'd even say ANY combat sport, there are several things you would be wise to do.

1) Get first aid certified, and encourage several members of your gym to do the same. Many injuries are exacerbated by poor practise in the immediate aftermath of the accident and even knowing when to do nothing is really important.
2) Ban intentional neck cranks from your gym. I've recently barred someone from training in my gym for consistent flouting of that rule.
3) Tap early to anything that feels like it's creating undue pressure on your neck or spine. Tapping isn't quitting and you should never view it as such. A lot of cumulative damage is caused by things that feel innocuous.
4) Do specific neck and spinal warm ups and prehab exercises. NOT neck bridges unless you've been wrestling since you were 7. (Matt Furey has a lot to answer for)

The explosion in the popularity of this sport has been great and there are a lot of people training and starting training groups around the country. This is obviously a brilliant thing for the sport, but I also genuinely worry given some of the training practises I've seen in the last couple of years that people don't really understand the nature of what they're doing when they're grappling and attacking the neck.

Good post Roper,


Accidents like this bring home inherent danger of all contact sports, and how we need to minimise risk of injury.

I was always worried with idea " I would rather pass out, than tap out" , if you cannot tell you are beaten, and need to submit, you have a problem that only experience will resolve.

dunkamania

cowzerp wrote: »

Just adding to this, Rugby players commonly break there necks as do boxers get head injuries-far more serious injuries than MMA from both.

The guy has a broken neck and is paralysed, hard to get more seriopus than that. They are arguably more common in certain other sports, which are also more widely practised though

cowzerp

dunkamania wrote: »

The guy has a broken neck and is paralysed, hard to get more seriopus than that. They are arguably more common in certain other sports, which are also more widely practised though

Your missing the point, this is common in rugby, rare in mma, the girl with the head injury is common in Boxing, rare in mma..

MMA as a combat sport is as safe as it gets..

angeldance

Dear god, thats tragic , I hope they pull through.

Nothingcompares

cowzerp wrote: »

Your missing the point, this is common in rugby, rare in mma, the girl with the head injury is common in Boxing, rare in mma..

MMA as a combat sport is as safe as it gets..

common in rugby? i.e. frequently occurring event? how many people do you know have become paralyzed from rugby?

I think the jury is still out on the inherent dangers of MMA. If there was as many MMA fights as boxing fights per week it would be easier to compare.

JohnMc1

dunkamania wrote: »

In the US, MMA fighters either are refused health insurance because of their occupations, or are quoted prices that are ridiculously expensive. This extends all the way up to most of the UFC fighters.

They are considered High Risk [ie. They will be in the Hospital alot] so alot of Insurance Companies won't insure them or charge them a lot more than they could possibly afford.

I remember in one of Mick Foley's book saying how happy he was to make those old Chef Boyardee [canned Spaghetti and Ravioli ] commercials because he was eligible to join SAG [Screen Actors Guild] because he could now have health insurance for himself and his family.

Dancor

cowzerp wrote: »

MMA as a combat sport is as safe as it gets..

Do you think this will remain the same with how fast it is grown as a sport? I think the bigger it gets the lower its standards will become. Small time shows looking to make a fast buck and non-safe training groups will be on the rise.

Goose81

cowzerp wrote: »

Just adding to this, Rugby players commonly break there necks as do boxers get head injuries-far more serious injuries than MMA from both.

Rugby players rarely get paralysed.
Maybe 1 or 2 every 3 years in the amatuers worldwide,Only 1 "professional player" has ever been paralysed and it wasnt even when the game was profesional back in 1995 I think.

mirwillbeback

Sad alright, but a freak accident. I agree with the posts about minding the neck, and after suffering for years with a bad back I know the importance of stretching.

I just think in this case, we need to remember it was a miscalculated manouvere which resulted in him driving his head neck with great force to the ground. A stronger neck may well not have saved him if the impact was so great.

hooplah

dunkamania wrote: »

In the US, MMA fighters either are refused health insurance because of their occupations, or are quoted prices that are ridiculously expensive. This extends all the way up to most of the UFC fighters.

Yeah I think this is shocking. Theres an interview with Jeff Monson about MMA and his politics here where he talks about the insurance thing a little bit (3rd and 4th last paragraphs).

arybvtcw0eolkf

Nothingcompares wrote: »

I think the jury is still out on the inherent dangers of MMA. If there was as many MMA fights as boxing fights per week it would be easier to compare.

Would you not agree that the inherent dangers in MMA are the same danger's which exist in the styles which make up MMA?.

ie, in Judo its illegal to attack the spine and its illegal for the attacker to use a technique which compromises the spine - makikomi type throws where Tori (the attacker) lands on his/her head & thereby compromising the spine.

I've no online source, but broken necks and even fatalities from such attacks are mentioned in 'The Judo Manual' (the book is in my car, I can't remember the authors name) and 'The Pyjama Game, Mark Law's excellent history of Judo'.

Anyway, poor guy.

Please god he makes a full and speedy recovery.

People always think the worse when they hear about a broken neck, my wifes neck (2nd & 3rd vertibre) was broken in a hit & run accident 14 yrs ago. At the time things looked bleak but she's went on the make a full recovery.

.

cowzerp

Goose81 wrote: »

Rugby players rarely get paralysed.
Maybe 1 or 2 every 3 years in the amatuers worldwide,Only 1 "professional player" has ever been paralysed and it wasnt even when the game was profesional back in 1995 I think.

I never said paralyzed, i said break there necks!
you can break your neck without paralysis as Makikomi pointed out.
anyway, i was just explaining that freak accidents can occur in any sport, even when the intention is not there..

razorblunt

Goose81 wrote: »

Rugby players rarely get paralysed.
Maybe 1 or 2 every 3 years in the amatuers worldwide,Only 1 "professional player" has ever been paralysed and it wasnt even when the game was profesional back in 1995 I think.

One of the Australian props, Brendan Cannon was the most high profie I'd say, damaged his spine and had to retire because of it.

Bottom line if your involved in contact sports, injuries will happen its part and parcel of sports.

Nothingcompares

Kellan Crashing Vender wrote: »

Would you not agree that the inherent dangers in MMA are the same danger's which exist in the styles which make up MMA?.

i agree broadly with what you're saying but it's important to note there are things in A class MMA that are not in ANY other martial art (for example ground and pound, ground and pound with elbows). All soccer kicks to the head (illegal in UFC but legal in pride)

Boxers take copious amounts of repeated head trauma (many blows to the head). This is, I have been told, more 'dangerous' in the long term than a single blow which actually causes a 'knockout' (open to correction). They however, generally know they only have 2/3 big targets and protect themselves accordingly. MMA fighters are prone to protecting one part of their body and getting a smack to the other (check a leg kick then get KTFO with a right hook). While this is common in Muay Thai MMA fighters are also distracted by take downs etc.

I'm not under any illusions that MMA is "safe" nor is it "deadly". There are certain risks fighters take when ever they get in the ring/cage and it's important that these are well elucidated.

I agree it was a tragic accident/freak occurrence for both fighters' and it's something no one wants to see in any sport but it's something that's always a risk when you have two people colliding like this.

roo1981

Nothingcompares wrote: »

common in rugby? i.e. frequently occurring event? how many people do you know have become paralyzed from rugby?

Goose81 wrote: »

Rugby players rarely get paralysed.
Maybe 1 or 2 every 3 years in the amatuers worldwide,Only 1 "professional player" has ever been paralysed and it wasnt even when the game was profesional back in 1995 I think.

Just because you dont know them doesnt mean their not out there. Rugby is a well known sport for high risk of spinal\neck injuries (I actually like rugby and wouldnt generally knock it but anyone can see the dangers involved).

With regards to MMA, most reported injuries are non-life threating-its safety record so far has been excellent. Saying that, a lot of this could be down to the relatively low number of people that actively practise the sport- the more people that take it up (and the more dodgy coaches\schools that get into it), the more likely it is that incidence of serious injuries will increase.

From personal experience, training smartly under a good coach minimizes risk of injury while training (fighting is always going to be risky). The injury in the original post sounds like a 'spiking' style injury-rule changes\implementation in most promotions should prevent this, providing promoters emphasise the dangers of these techniques at their rules meetings. Id be far more worried about picking up staph infections and the like, which appear to be more common with MMA training than most other sports.

Some reports from Ireland, Austrailia and the UK with regards to the rugby injuries-unfortunately as their medical reports you may have to pay to access the full text (rightly so)

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/apr20/yeo/yeo.html

http://www.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/content/abstract/88-B/6/771

http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/bjsm/abstract.00002412-200412000-00040.htm;jsessionid=KpXNHyMBCfLKQH9pl17LpGYkfgJ82pkXxZ4yrH7wGwYPvmPNdDnx!-1260103914!181195628!8091!-1

cowzerp

Nothingcompares wrote: »

(for example ground and pound, ground and pound with elbows). .

GnP is only dangerous in the fact that fighters get cuts from it!
KO's are rare in GnP as the blows are minimal compared to a well executed stand up punch and the fights are stopped before any serious injury anyway..

Nothingcompares wrote: »

(
Boxers take copious amounts of repeated head trauma (many blows to the head). This is, I have been told, more 'dangerous' in the long term than a single blow which actually causes a 'knockout' (open to correction).

Boxers get repeated trauma and the 'Knockout' too and more so than MMA fighters, most MMA fighters get hurt and get scabby GnP and the fight is stopped as there not defending themselves, in Boxing you would have 10 to get up and get the full force coming at you again and again etc etc in some instances.

The only way MMA is more dangerous is to your joints and freak accidents like what happened the lad this thread is about which is so rare and could happen in ballet.

colinlaird000

Neck injury is probably the one we all worry about. I have been fortunate / unfortunate to take part in both rugby & mma to a reasonable level, and was also a front row player for my sins, so am familiar with that world. The main risk is having weight applied directly to the join of spine and base of the skull, without having ther option to move and displace the pressure. I would say that theres equal aggression in a scrum as there would be in an mma fight, but most of the danger comes about due to the inability to adjust your body position

I think to be fair to either rugby or mma, there are other sports which are equally dangerous, but less obviously so.

I know a person well who had their eye taken out by a golf ball, and someone who fractured their skull diving into a swimming pool (luckily they were very quickly fished out unconscious by the lifeguard). You never really know, so enjoy what you do regardless, while you still can!

In a way were are fortunate that as we know theres a risk of injury when we enter the ring, we can consciously work to prevent it to the best of our ability. Most injuries i would say are caused by random chance, not warming up properly, knowing how to fall properly, or not paying full attention to what you are doing!

OMCCABE

cowzerp wrote: »

GnP is only dangerous in the fact that fighters get cuts from it!
KO's are rare in GnP as the blows are minimal compared to a well executed stand up punch and the fights are stopped before any serious injury anyway..

Not sure you can say the blows are minimal Paul. GnP probably has the biggest potential for causing injury within the striking aspects of MMA as its got gravity behind it and this really increases the forces in comparison to a standing punch.

The one thing I'll say for it though is that as long as the participant has proper training and can cover up and break posture we should never see any bad injuries from it *fingers crossed* so in that way your right and it also lends to the point made earlier with regards to unsafe training groups evolving as the sport grows.

cowzerp

OMCCABE wrote: »

Not sure you can say the blows are minimal Paul. GnP probably has the biggest potential for causing injury within the striking aspects of MMA as its got gravity behind it and this really increases the forces in comparison to a standing punch.

Oisin if you believe that then i suspect you've never been GnP, if what you say was right many people would get KO'd from it, they do occasionally but its rare and that's even when 10-15 blows have landed and the opponent is usually already hurt from a standing blow.

I don't even remember ever seeing a KO from GnP in Irish MMA.

A proper executed punch transfers full body weight at massive speeds and the force is massive, KO's are common from 1 blow in this.

GnP is effective because the refs have to step in if your not defending yourself or your in a position (trapped) where you cant.

Dragan

OMCCABE wrote: »

Not sure you can say the blows are minimal Paul. GnP probably has the biggest potential for causing injury within the striking aspects of MMA as its got gravity behind it and this really increases the forces in comparison to a standing punch.

Eh gravity is not going to do much other than affect the weight of the hand, arm, shoulder, torso, full body. That's it.

The idea that gravity could add more force to an shot throw at a ****e angle from a mostly awkward position that the force behind a beautifully executed standing strike is something i find very, very hard to believe.

The effect of gravity is based purely on one thing and unless you have a fist that weights 20lbs, that effect is gonna be close to nothing I would imagine.

OMCCABE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr2qVrj1syo&feature=related


Check out from about 6.30 onwards. Double the force of a heavyweight boxers standing punch and 4 times the force of Randys standing punch.


I'm obviously not saying that standard GnP is more damaging than stand up strikes as posture is broken. Postured up GnP on the other hand is gonna be way way more damaging if the opponent isn't defending themselves due to being dazed or the ref being slow to act.

Look..I love the sport and don't want to cast any negative light on it. As long as we all keep to high standards when it comes to promoting safety in the ring and remain aware that there are risks there then we should never have anything other than the very very rare freak accidents like in this thread. I know for fact that your standards are high for this Paul so fair play to you and I hope the show goes great. I'm really dissappointed I won't be around to go to it


Oisin

Nothingcompares

The key assumption in GNP that makes it safe is that the referee stops the fight when the guy on bottom isn't intelligently defending himself rather than getting KOed. If we had 1000 A class fights ever weekend could we guarantee there would be A class referee taking charge for every single bout? MAybe not.

OMCCABE

Nothingcompares wrote: »

The key assumption in GNP that makes it safe is that the referee stops the fight when the guy on bottom isn't intelligently defending himself rather than getting KOed. If we had 1000 A class fights ever weekend could we guarantee there would be A class referee taking charge for every single bout? MAybe not.

This is my ONLY worry with MMA. If the growth of the sport outpaces the development of competent officials then bad things can happen.


Still safer than boxing in my opinion due to the lack of the count as Paul pointed out earlier. I want to see it stay that way.