I don't know what type of "occipital fracture" Terri has; however, here's information on an occipital condylar fracture:
Occipital condylar fracture
Occipital bone: the cuplike bone at the back of the skull that has a large opening (the foramen magnum) that links with the spinal canal.
Occipital condylar fracture results from a high-energy blunt trauma with axial compression, lateral bending, or rotational injury to the alar ligament. These fractures are subdivided into 3 types based on the morphology and mechanism of injury (Anderson, 1988). An alternative classification divides these fractures into stable and displaced, ie, with and without ligamentous injury (Tuli, 1997).
Type I fracture is secondary to axial compression resulting in comminution of the occipital condyle. This is a stable injury.
Type II fracture results from a direct blow, and, despite being a more extensive basioccipital fracture, type II fracture is classified as stable because of the preserved alar ligament and tectorial membrane.
Type III fracture is an avulsion injury as a result of forced rotation and lateral bending. This is potentially an unstable fracture.
Occipital condylar fracture is a very rare and serious injury (Legros, 1999). Most of the patients with occipital condylar fracture, especially with type III, are in a coma and have other associated cervical spinal injuries. These patients also may present with other lower cranial nerve injuries and hemiplegia or quadriplegia
http://www.dokkenfamily.com/ocf.htmlTerri lying face down on the floor caused blunt trauma to the back of her head?>......hmmmmmmmmm
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Like pushing down hard from behind while using his forearm to strangle her from in front. Might not leave any external marks.
I took a look at Christopher Reeve's web site but can't tell if this is the same injury he suffered. (Incidentally, why doesn't somebody pull HIS plug.)