Anatomy, Physiology, and Disease 3rd Edition by Karen Lee,Jeff Ankney,Bruce Colbert

Exercise 28

Let's visit with Ray again. This is the young man who hit his chin on the bottom of the swimming pool doing a backflip. He had struck the bottom of the pool on the point of his chin, jamming and twisting his neck. His neck is broken, the first two vertebrae are shattered, and his spinal cord is irreversibly damaged. He is paralyzed from the neck down and is ventilator dependent.
Why can't he breathe (Be specific.)
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