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The death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes was caused by a massive blow to the side of his neck that split open a blood vessel, the Cricket Australia team doctor said.
Hughes, 25, died two days after being hit by a cricket ball during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Cricket Australia team doctor Peter Brukner said at a press conference only about 100 cases of Hughes’ “freakish” accident are recorded in medical literature, and only one other cricketer is known to have ever died in the same “incredibly rare” way.
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“His vertebral artery was compressed by the ball that caused the artery to split and bleeding to go up into the brain,” Dr Brukner said.
Such a blow is “frequently fatal” immediately, but Hughes was successfully resuscitated, he said.
“They [medical staff] all did a magnificent job of keeping Phillip alive and he was transported to hospital in a reasonable condition.”
Hughes was brought back to life by NSW cricket team doctor John Orchard, who performed CPR for approximately 20 minutes until he was taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.
The cricketer then underwent a brain scan, which showed urgent surgery was required to relieve the pressure caused by extensive bleeding.
“We had to make an intervention into the brain to actually help get the pressure down in the brain,” a spokesperson for the hospital told the media.
Royal Melbourne Hospital neurosurgeon Alex Adamides told The New Daily that Hughes probably died from a “combination” of the “very severe” initial blow and the subsequent bleeding.
“The two in combination is probably what resulted in him having compression of his brain stem and death,” said Mr Adamides, who has extensively researched head injuries.
Pressure on the brain usually leads to death because it controls vital functions such as breathing and heartbeat, he said.
“It usually takes two or three days for the swelling to be at its worst,” Mr Adamides said.