A family man

[Desmond7]

Just thought I'd share this .. it was given to me the other day. The little boy with the curls is still alive and living in the same street. Puts a human side to things.

It states he died of 'nervous shock and a wound' ... does this mean he may have died from the trauma during any surgical procedure?

Rifleman Alexander Luke

Mrs. Luke, 37 Springwell Street, Ballymena received a letter from a Church of England Chaplain on Monday last

stating that her husband Rifleman Alexander Luke of 12th RIR (Ulster Division) had died in No9 General Hospital

from nervous shock and a wound. Rfn. Luke enlisted in May 1915 and proceeded to the front with the Ulster

Division.

Prior to joining the army he was employed by the Midland Railway Co. at Ballymena Station. He was a son of Mr.

James Luke, Ahoghill. Mr. Luke has a brother with the forces at Salonika.

[Cotswold]

Hi Desmond,

'Nervous Shock'

He could have died from the shock brought on by surgery, I imagine all those years ago it would of been very traumatic. Having surgery is bad enough today but at least we now have all this advanced and technical medical equipment available.

Shock is a medical emergency in which the organs and tissues of the body are not receiving an adequate flow of blood. This deprives the organs and tissues of oxygen (carried in the blood) and allows the buildup of waste products. Shock can result in serious damage or even death.

Interestingly, these days "Nervous Shock" refers to a wide range of recognized psychiatric illnesses such as phobic anxiety, neuroses and post-traumatic stress disorder, which are more than simply grief, upset or unhappiness.

However, I should say Rifleman Alexander Luke died from the trauma his wound caused which brought about shock.

It is a sad story but a lovely photograph.

Kind Regards,

Donna

[Borden Battery]

There are cases where a near explosion of an artillery shell(s) can render a man stunned physically, disooriented mentally ... both observable ... and with the passage of exploding air moving at difference speeds through the low-density lungs and high density heart - result in tearing of aortic blood vessels. Result is internal bleeding, medical shock and death.

Perhaps someone with a medical background can expand on this?

[Desmond7]

Thanks folks.

Des

[Dragon]

Interestingly, these days "Nervous Shock"  refers to a wide range of recognized psychiatric illnesses such as phobic anxiety, neuroses and post-traumatic stress disorder, which are more than simply grief, upset or unhappiness.

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Is this so? I haven’t come across it being used by any of the psychiatrists or psychologists I have contact with, nor in any of my own books. I can’t find it on the RCPsych site or the NIMHE site.

Des, I can’t offer help on your question. However, there is some evidence from research into how mental health problems resulting from war and trauma changed during the 20c that, specifically in relation to WW1, men who had been actively serving in a theatre of war were more likely to have heart problems and 'nervous' disorders (vide threads elsewhere). Specific wars have had their own particular disorders. Potentially therefore, is it possible that problems with this man’s heart might have meant that he presented an enhanced risk at surgery?

Gwyn

[Cotswold]

Is this so? I haven’t come across it being used by any of the psychiatrists or psychologists I have contact with, nor in any of my own books. I can’t find it on the RCPsych site or the NIMHE site.

Simply what I have read recently, I do not profess to know much about it personally!

Regards,Donna.

[Dragon]

.

Simply what I have read recently,

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Where?

Gwyn

[Robert Dunlop]

'Nervous shock' would not, in my opinion, relate to the concept of medical shock, as defined by Donna in her response to Des' original question. Essentially, it would mean that the nervous system, or severe anxiety ('nerves') caused the blood pressure to collapse, thereby starving the brain and other major organs from blood and oxygen. This is not likely.

So I think we must turn to more of a Layman's view. Likely the word 'shock' is referring to the effect of something 'shocking'. Typically, if a doctor inserts the adjective 'nervous', he or she means that the state of 'shock' is not related to any physical changes or known physical cause. With time, the underlying causes of more and more previously-labelled 'nervous' disorders are being discovered. Along with a greater realization of the intimate links between mind and body.

Returning to this situation. We know there was a physical wound. Whether this resulted in Rifleman Luke's admission to hospital is not evident from the information available. While in hospital, something awful happened that caused him to die. The term 'nervous shock' suggests to me that:

i) the death may have been sudden and 'shocking' to the staff - doctors sometimes project their feelings about something into descriptions

ii) there was no identifiable cause, such as the result of infection or surgery

iii) there may have been some other 'nervous' manifestations, such as extreme anxiety or severe catatonia, where a person literally freezes, just like the people featured in the film 'Awakenings'.

On the issue of internal bleeding from the aorta, it is a very resilient structure, especially in younger people. The wall of the aorta is extremely tough but also very elastic - it has to be to accommodate the pressure of the arterial blood flow. The major veins into the heart, particularly the veins draining the lungs, are more vulnerable to decceleration injuries. A famous princess died, in part, from this complication of a car crash. I am not sure if the effects of a nearby shell can cause such injuries by differential air pressure - I just don't know. An explosion could cause this by throwing someone violently into an immoveable object.

Robert

[Dragon]

Des, have a look at this abstract by Edgar Jones on post combat syndromes.

BMJ

It makes some reference to unexplained physical illness as well as mental illness. It's interesting anyway.

Gwyn

[Desmond7]

Mmmm - heavy stuff for me.

I can only add that Luke died several days after the 1st July action.

Whether this signifies that he was perhaps left out in NML and later recovered or not .. I don't know.

Plenty of food for thought there folks.

Thanks as always.

[Cotswold]

Where?

Gwyn

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On a search on the web Gwyn. So much info out there, too much maybe.

Some info more up to date than other stuff maybe.

Regards.