Clubbed to death

efreysson · Jan 31, 2015

I have a character getting clubbed multiple times by an enormous man with an iron mace. For plot reasons I want him to hover at death's door for a couple of days before expiring without ever regaining consciousness. The other characters know he will probably die, and certainly never make a full recovery. I was thinking of maybe having his spine snap.
I would appreciate some advice on these kinds of injuries and what would cause the aforementioned.

Oh, and the setting doesn't have advanced medicine.

Deb Kinnard · Feb 1, 2015

I'd recommend internal injuries for a slow, doesn't-regain-consciousness sort of demise. He might have been hit once, a glancing blow, to the head, which renders him senseless, but a slow internal bleed in the belly or the chest could work for your story. Let's say you choose the belly. His caregivers would observe the bruising on the abdomen spreading. Gradually his belly would become hard as the pressure of the blood accumulates inside. The bruising would grow deeper blue over time as well. Eventually he would lose too much blood to supply the vital organs effectively enough, and his heart would starve for oxygen. He'd pass quietly. A very low key ending to a nasty death.

efreysson · Feb 1, 2015

Deb Kinnard said:
I'd recommend internal injuries for a slow, doesn't-regain-consciousness sort of demise. He might have been hit once, a glancing blow, to the head, which renders him senseless, but a slow internal bleed in the belly or the chest could work for your story. Let's say you choose the belly. His caregivers would observe the bruising on the abdomen spreading. Gradually his belly would become hard as the pressure of the blood accumulates inside. The bruising would grow deeper blue over time as well. Eventually he would lose too much blood to supply the vital organs effectively enough, and his heart would starve for oxygen. He'd pass quietly. A very low key ending to a nasty death.

Alright. That sounds like what I need.

Is there anything caregivers could TRY to do without modern medical equipment?

Neegh · Feb 1, 2015

A head blow.

Katharine Tree · Feb 1, 2015

Neegh said:
A head blow.

I researched head injuries and time till death when there's bleeding on the brain, and IIRC, people pretty much always die in under 24 hours if they're hit bad enough to be unconscious for more than a few minutes (I, too, wanted my character to last for a couple of days, but I didn't end up writing the story that way).

However, the patient could be trephined, therefore not die right away, but end up dying from meningitis or extensive brain damage a couple of days later. That happened all the time.

Neegh · Feb 1, 2015

Katharine Tree said:
the patient could be trephined, therefore not die right away, but end up dying from meningitis or extensive brain damage a couple of days later. That happened all the time.

Like my friend who fell off a roof—just a one-story roof. He fell onto his head and shoulders. He was awake and talking throughout all of it. He died 4 days later while talking to his wife on the phone from his hospital bed.

Clubbed to death

efreysson

Closer than ever

Deb Kinnard

efreysson

Closer than ever

Neegh

Katharine Tree

Þæt wæs god cyning

Neegh