Like any other part of your body, the spinal cord can be injured. Some people damage their spinal cords when they dive into a swimming pool that is too shallow for diving, or even in a traffic accident. When the spinal cord is damaged, the messages from the brain cannot travel to the rest of the body. Therefore, after a spinal cord injury, the brain may no longer be able to send messages to the legs and the affected person may lose his ability to walk. A higher injury, where the spinal cord is damaged closer to the neck (in the cervical level), may cause even more severe problems and some people are left unable to move their arms. Worst of all, the cells in the spinal cord are very sensitive, and this damage is often permanent, meaning it cannot be fixed.
In the United States of America, it is estimated that there are about 906 people living with a spinal cord injury for every million people in the country. More than half of these spinal cord injuries are at the cervical level, and most people who get these injuries are aged between 15 and 30 when it happens.

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