Kera user and HT Systems' National Sales Manager, Mark Williams, shares his experience of a C4/C5 spinal cord injury, explaining why “breaking your back” and damaging the spinal cord are not the same thing.
He explores what life is like living with tetraplegia, the crucial role of transferring and independence after spinal cord injury, and how the Kera hoist system helps bridge the gap between limitation and freedom.
What’s the Difference Between a Broken Back and a Spinal Cord Injury?
When people ask, “So, what happened – did you break your back?” I usually pause. Not because I don’t know the answer, but because the truth is a little more complex.
What most people don’t realise is the critical difference between breaking a bone and injuring the spinal cord. I certainly didn’t – until it happened to me.
The Bones and the Messenger Cable
Your spine is built like protective armour: 33 bones called vertebrae, stacked to form a tunnel. Inside that bony tunnel runs the most important cable in your body – your spinal cord.
The spinal cord is the ultimate messenger. It’s the highway for signals, allowing your brain to tell your body to move, feel heat, or scratch your nose. It’s what connects thought to action, mind to movement, and person to world.
Now imagine the spinal cord as a garden hose:
Bend or compress it, and the flow might stop – but straighten it, and it returns. That’s like a bruised or compressed spinal cord, known as an incomplete injury.
Cut it, and the flow stops completely. That’s a complete injury. No amount of repair can restore full signal.
That difference – between a broken bone and a broken connection – defines everything.
Understanding C4 / C5 Tetraplegia
When my accident happened, I fractured bones in my neck – but the life-changing damage was to my spinal cord at the C4/C5 level.
That specific location determines a condition called tetraplegia (from the Greek tetra, meaning four, and plegia, meaning paralysis). Some people still use the Latin term quadriplegia, but tetraplegia is technically correct.
It means losing functional use of the legs and most of the arms. It means needing help with nearly everything – getting out of bed, transferring, showering. My life is built around caregivers, routines, and patience.
It truly is a matter of centimetres.
Someone with a slightly lower injury – say, C6/C7 – may have enough hand and arm movement to push their own wheelchair or achieve greater independence. Many tetraplegic athletes have injuries at that level.
Sometimes I admit I’m more envious of a C6/C7 injury than of someone walking – because those few centimetres decide how physically easy or hard your life becomes.
The Real Question: What Happened to the Cord?
That’s why the phrase “broken back” can be so misleading.
Someone who fractures their spine lower down – at T1–T12 – is often called a paraplegic. They may have full use of their arms, push their own wheelchair, and drive. Same “broken back,” two radically different lives.
You could break every bone in your spine and still walk away – provided your spinal cord remains untouched. But if even a sliver of that cord is damaged, your life changes forever.
So when someone says, “He broke his back,” just know it doesn’t always mean paralysis.
And when someone like me says, “I broke my neck,” the real question is:
What happened to the cord?
That’s the question that determines everything – whether you’ll walk again, breathe on your own, hold a fork, or hug your family.
It’s not about the bones. It’s about the signals – the invisible messages that let us live. And when those stop, the world gets quieter. But somehow, you learn to shout louder in other ways.
Why Transferring Matters
For people with spinal cord injuries, transferring – moving between bed, chair, or car – becomes the new definition of freedom.
Many with C6 or C7 spinal injuries can transfer by themselves, and that ability becomes a crucial marker of independence after spinal cord injury.
If you can transfer, it changes everything:
- You start your day when you decide.
- You can get into a car, a shower, or a chair without waiting for help.
It’s the difference between dependence and control.
For many, transferring is the equivalent of walking – a symbol of independence and dignity.
The Role of the Kera Hoist System
That’s where the Kera Hoist System becomes life-changing.
Anyone with an injury above the C6 level usually needs a hoist system for spinal injury transfers, even those who’ve had triceps-reconstruction surgery. The triceps are vital for pushing, lifting, and stabilising – and in a high-level tetraplegic, that power is lost.
But Kera hoist systems aren’t just for new injuries. They’re also invaluable for people who’ve been living with a spinal cord injury for years – those whose arms and shoulders have worn out from decades of wheelchair pushing and manual transfers.
The Kera Travel and Kera Home hoists don’t just lift a person – they preserve shoulders, protect joints, and make independence sustainable.
They give strength back through the hands of another person – allowing you, in a sense, to operate above your injury level.
It’s not just equipment.
It’s equality in motion.
Key Takeaways
A spinal cord injury is not the same as a broken back. Bone fractures may heal – cord damage changes life forever.
C4/C5 spinal injury explained: This level causes tetraplegia, affecting arms, legs, and independence.
Living with tetraplegia means redefining freedom through adaptive tools and supportive care.
Independence and transferring after spinal cord injury are essential for daily dignity.
The Kera hoist system for spinal injury helps people maintain control, protect their bodies, and live life on their own terms.
Mark Williams is a Kera Travel user, Investor and National Sales Manager at HT Systems.
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