The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-29
WITH HIS NECK BROKEN.
,UpPy BALDWIN HAS LIVED A
YEAR, BUT CAN NEVER REST.

the Story of the Wonderful Case.
from the Nelo York Star,
The attention of the night clerks at the
Murray Hill Hotel and of the wSl-dressed
cavaliers about the corridors was attracted
at late hour Friday night by tall, good
looking man, accompanied by stylish APP
,,ooriug lady. who arrived on a late Chicago
train They were registered as Jerry Bald
vein and wife, OF Birmingham, Ala, and
were assigned rooms.
The man walked with the aid of large
cane a d was partially supported by his
wife Both his legs were crooked and
twisted in several different ways; his right
arm hung limp and liStless by his side,
Tbil. his head was baudaged in leather
straps. which, winding under his chin, We're
fastened above the head to a curved piece
Ia nj steel which protruded from under his
N coat collar behind AS he walked, his head
a sIyuup loosely as if the neck was connected
onlv for a moment and was of no earthly
use to the owner.
This man, who to all appearances seemed
M IN have been run through threshing ma
chine or stood up for a target for John L.
# Sullivan to practice upon, is the celebrated
Jerry Baldwin, whose case is one of the
Hi most remarkable in the history of medical
M science and puts TO the winds hundreds of
surgical theories which had been laid down
as absolutely unalterable. His is the first
ease on record where a man has survived a
broken neck, and although his existence is
made somewhat unpleasant thereby, yet he
bids fair to live to a good old age, even
q though the broken neck is coupled with two
broken legs, five broken ribs and broken
arm. and, as Mr.. Baldwin expresses it, a
broken record. The experiences of this re
markable man read like a story of fiction.
He is a wonderful example of the amount
of mutilaton the human body can with
stand and still preserve life. Mr.. Baldwin,
sitting in his room at the Murray Hill yes
terday afternoon, related some of his ex-
perienceS 20 q Star reporter.
Jerry r. Baldwin was born in this city
April 10, 1852, and was engaged in the vari-
Gus railroad yards until he removed to
Birmingham, Ala, where he obtained
a POSITION as yardmaSter in the Louisville and
Nashville railroad yards. AT 4:15 a. m,
March 49, 1897, he was standing in a caboose
a in the yards when a runaway engine came
IA numbering down the track, and, striking
q the car in which Baldwin was standing.
81 knocked him on the track. and the engine
81 and six cars r&a over him, breaking his
right leg in two places and his left leg just
Nj below the thigh, FIVE ribs. three on the right
side and two on the left, besides swapping in
twain the sixth carvical vertebr@ of the
neck and splintering the joint between the
sixth and seventh vertebr8-
q Every stitch of the mans cletheS was
torn from his body, and a large hole was
4 made IN his right side. In this condition he
4 was found and taken to his home 1t was
g thought that he could live only few min
3 utes, but, after hours of waiting, he was
found to be still breathing. A consultation
was held by Drs. James B. Guckie, Cope
land and Barclay, and steps were taken to
experiment., with a view of performing a
Fl feat never before thought possible, j. e.,
saving mans life after his neck was bro
81 ken. They were finally successful.
~ The injured man was unconscious for
81 thirty-six hours, and after being incased
"a wholly in plaster of paris was put upon
"a water mattress IA rubber bag filed with
water). On this he laid more than four
81 months. He was then put TO bed, where he
H lay two months longer. He was totally
"a blind for fourteen days after the accident,
q and has yet hardly regained the full use of
"a his eyesight At the end of six months,
during which time the patient was in a COM
atose condition, be began to show symptoms
Of recovery. The entire medical world had
been exercised over the case, and many emf
nent medical men visited the patient He
was finally taken from the plaster of paris
cast, and his neck being totally useless his
s head was swung in the leather mask called
the Jury mask, which he now wears.
Il His body is encased in a corset the lack
q Of which is solid steel, reaching from the
hips to the back of the neck, where a fiexi-
e bic bar of metal is riveted. This bar curves
above the head, and to it the mask is at
tached. The front of the corset is Of IRISH
linen and rubber, and it is tightly laced.
The weight of the head is thus borne by the
4 hips The corset was designed by DR.. A. j.
Baxter, of Chicago The mask is the design
Of DR.. Sayres, of Fifth avenue, this city.
Baldwin is cheerful to a remarkable degree
although the physical pain he still endures
Is very great.
Such are his injuries that he must he
always moving, absolute rest being quickly
followed by unc JpsciOuSness. He can never
lie down, as press IRE on the spinal column
causes a relapse into a trance. lasting for
hours, during which time the victim is pain
fully conscious of surrounding objects and
Incidents, but is physically dead. The
only sleep he gets is in little cat maps caught
while sitting in chair.
i Through the hours of the night Mr.. Bald
WIN amuses himself playing with diminu-
tive Scotch terrier This is his only recrea-
ton. He is an inveterate smoker, but never
drank i'll his life, and to this abstinence he
aScrlbes his strong constitution. which en-
abled him to withstand the shock which no
one before him ever survived. His greatest
annoyance is caused by the tightneSs of the
corset which supports his head, and which
nes Ollly been removed once since DIS IN
Juries were received, a year ago, and that
removal was attended with such serious
consequences that the physicians will never
permit repetition. He says it is almost
QnDearable in heated room.
Mr.. Baldwin is on his way from San
francisco to Bridgeport, Conn, where he
mas relatives. He is always accompanied
by his wife, q pleasant little woman, to
whose constant care and devotion the hus-
Dand owes what comfort he enjoys They
are Just completing tour for medical ex-
animation, embracing New Orleans, Mem
Fl pms San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago,
o. Paul, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Inc most eminent physicians have admitted
vnat the case is unparalleled in the history
Oh the profession. He was to have appeared
az Bellevue Hospital yesterday before the
Students at a lecture given by DR.. Sayres,
gut' owing to the physicians indisposition,
Fl Vue lecture was postponed.
Mr. Baldwin is well off financially. He
was awarded $4,000 damages from the
railroad company, and as he has received
une proceeds Of the medical lectures in the
coneges III all the cities he has visited, his
larry income is supposed TO be from 49,,
wv 10 S3O,OOO, He is the recipient each day
~ numerous offers of museum managers in
JsnS country and Europe but so far he has
Inclined all offers. He denied yesterday
S STt he had received an offer from Mr..
ar barnum, and says he prefers TO aid In