Why is an Alanto-occiptial dislocation aka internal decapitation almost always fatal even if you make it to hospital?
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Spinal cord injuries cause damage to any spinal nerves that exit below the site. C3,4 and 5 spinal nerves connect to the diaphragm (breathing). The Atlas (where atlantoocciptal name comes from back bone is C1, which is the highest level of the spinal cord, so decapitation pretty much shuts off any spinal nerve functions below the site, including the ability to breathe. Even with proper medical care like putting the person on a a ventilator, by the time they make it to hospital, after all the movement, there spinal cord is now just a tube of toothpaste and they probably have suffered a HBI and/or died, and thus medical intervention has a poor outcome
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