Couple in their 90s survive internal decapitation after serious car crash
91-year-old woman defied hospice recommendation after rare injury
AVONDALE, Ariz. (KNXV) — An Arizona couple in their 90s is recovering at an assisted living facility after surviving a serious car crash last month that left the wife with a rare and often deadly injury known as internal decapitation.
Gary and Martha Ramer, married for more than 70 years, were traveling to Casa Grande for a family visit when Gary said his foot slipped and he hit the gas instead of the brake. Their Subaru crashed into a ditch, totaling the car.
The whiplash injured vertebrae for both of them. Martha, 91, needed to be flown to the hospital, where she learned she had suffered an internal decapitation.
“An internal decapitation is when the skull, when the ligaments that support the skull are torn completely, the muscles stay intact, but, statistically, probably about 70% of individuals who have that, it’s immediately fatal,” said Dr. Bruno Subbarao of ClearSky Rehab Hospital in Avondale.
One of the first medical providers suggested hospice care. But a second opinion showed Martha could still move much of her body.
“At the close of that prayer, the doctor who was waiting there for the verdict of whether he should go on, he said, is that a yes? And of course it was,” Gary Ramer said.
The couple spent 15 days in rehab. They said their recovery was due to their faith, determination and their medical team. They sang their team an original song they wrote before they were married as they departed rehab.
The couple is still recovering at an assisted living facility with the goal of getting back into their home.
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