News
Travelling Europe with broken neck
25 January 2007
A full-scale search for a British tourist was launched in Holland after it was realised that he had a broken neck.
Benjamin O'Conner had been involved in a car crash in Suffolk and was taken to hospital.
However, doctors said there was nothing wrong with him and so allowed him to leave.
Mr O'Conner then set off on a holiday which would take him around Europe and eventually Holland.
Doctors at the hospital double-checked x-ray scans taken of Mr O'Conner a little while after he had been discharged, only to discover that he had broken his neck.
Fearing that the 29-year-old could do some serious damage to his spinal cord, the hospital tried desperately to contact him.
Mr O'Conner was eventually tracked down to Amsterdam, where appeals were printed in newspapers and broadcast on radio.
Police say he arrived in Holland 'after visiting several European cities', while doctors revealed that he could have died at any time.
He has now been returned to England and is being treated for his injuries.
© Adfero Ltd
Benjamin O'Conner had been involved in a car crash in Suffolk and was taken to hospital.
However, doctors said there was nothing wrong with him and so allowed him to leave.
Mr O'Conner then set off on a holiday which would take him around Europe and eventually Holland.
Doctors at the hospital double-checked x-ray scans taken of Mr O'Conner a little while after he had been discharged, only to discover that he had broken his neck.
Fearing that the 29-year-old could do some serious damage to his spinal cord, the hospital tried desperately to contact him.
Mr O'Conner was eventually tracked down to Amsterdam, where appeals were printed in newspapers and broadcast on radio.
Police say he arrived in Holland 'after visiting several European cities', while doctors revealed that he could have died at any time.
He has now been returned to England and is being treated for his injuries.
© Adfero Ltd
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