So let me clarify…Earlier this week I mentioned that Raul’s arm-wrestling days were over. Here’s some background info for those who don’t know the loveable Raul (aka “CoCo”). In advance, my apologies to Raul because I’m totally blowing his spot.
Raul loves to work on his fitness. Ever since I’ve known him, he’s been meticulous about making sure he looks good physically (even to the point of making CBB late, much to our chagrin). Yikes! Well, one game he likes to play with other dudes in bands when we are out on the road is arm-wrestling. It’s this primal instinct to see which band has superior physicality, and to date, he has only lost to Tim Lopez (guitarist of Plain White Ts), don’t bring it up, it’s a sore subject for him. Anyways, Raul tends to make these outlandish physical challenges after a few Zimas or Smirnoff Ices—it’s almost a tell-tale sign he’s feeling good.
So fast forward to three nights ago. I was in the ER on a Saturday night, and this 25 y/o brah (NOT Raul) rolls in screaming in pain. His girlfriend said that he was at a bar, already had several drinks in him, and challenged a friend to arm-wrestling. This guy had a pretty good build, almost Raul-like. The girlfriend continued: “He had just sat down at the bar and they locked hands, and right when they started we heard a loud snap—I looked at the bar stool to see if the chair or something had broken because there was no way anything in the human body could make such a loud sound” Unfortunately, it was her boyfriend’s humerus—the long bone going shoulder to elbow.
Keep in mind, the humerus is a pretty solid bone, and this guy had just started the match. The results are the x-ray I posted. Spiral fracture of the humerus. Automatic admit to hospital, surgery in the morning.
So I thought for sure there had to be something wrong with the bone to begin with, like a bone tumor or bone cyst. But as you can see above, there is none to be found near the break. So I put on my investigative hat and looked up “typical arm-wrestling injuries” on Google, and sure enough, spiral fractures of the humerus are one of the most common injuries. Look it up on YouTube if you have the stomach, it’s pretty gross. The funny thing is, it typically happens in guys with large muscle mass disproportionate to bone density/strength—ie, dudes that work out upper body way more to pick up the chicks. Add to that fact that it happens a lot when people are drunk, because they lose sense of their strength and limits. Next thing you know, SNAP!
Bottom line is, this picture fits my friend Raul to a tee. And since he is my compadre stage left in CBB, we can’t allow silly injuries like a humeral spiral fracture stop us! Raul, I hope this convinces you to stop arm-wrestling. Readers, please give him a gentle nudge, I’m just trying to be a good friend.
So, yeah. The More You Know.
