
Let's look at 4 different sections of the spine & see how Ava is affected.
Cervical (where Ava’s injury falls under):
Cervical spinal cord injuries affect the head and neck region above the shoulders and is the most severe level of spinal cord injury.
The cervical spine (often shortened to C-spine - thus C4) is s section in the neck. It’s comprised of seven interlocking bone segments, and also includes eight spinal nerves, running in-between vertebrae which lead to different areas of the body.
Thoracic Spinal Cord Injuries: The thoracic spine is built for stability and helps keep the body upright. It connects the cervical spine, and the lumbar spine (lower back).
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T-1 → T-5 nerves affect muscles, upper chest, mid-back and abdominal muscles which control the rib cage, lungs, diaphragm and muscles that help you breathe.
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T-6 → T-12 nerves affect abdominal and back muscles which are important for balance and posture, and they help you cough.
Lumbar Spinal Cord Injuries:
Injuries generally result in some loss of function in the hips and legs.
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L1 & L2 nerves affect Hip bending and flexing
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L3 affects Knee Straightening.
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L4 affects bending of feet upwards.
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L5 affects toe extension.
Sacral Spinal Cord Injuries:
Depending on the type of sacral injury or nerve damage, its location affects the nerves in that area and leads to lack of control and pain:
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S1 nerves affect the hips and groin area.
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S2 nerves affect the backs of the thighs.
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S3 nerves affect the medial buttock area.
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S4 nerves affect the perineal area.
What does this mean for Ava?
Ava has been given a diagnosis of C4 ASIA A SCI.
What does this mean?
The extent of spinal cord injury (SCI) is defined by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale
ASIA A is defined as a person with no motor or sensory function preserved in the sacral segments S4-S5.
ASIA A
The extent of SCIs is defined by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale.
Under this scale, ASIA A means no motor or sensory function preserved in the sacral segments S4-S5, however, with the help of the doctors and Ava’s hard work rehabbing everyday, she has managed to regain some movement in her arms, despite several of her muscles still switched off.
Ava also has weakened lung and diaphragm muscles, and is functioning at a severely decreased level. (She can’t cough on her own, control bladder/bowel movements, and breathing is difficult).
Additonal SCI Information

Non-traumatic
19%
Traumatic
81%
In Australia, 81% of SCI’s in people under 65 are the result of traumatic causes, such as road accidents, falls & sports injuries.
Temperature Regulation
Body temperature is controlled by the autonomic nervous system via hypothalamic regulation. In SCI, there is generally reduced sensory input regarding temperature received from below the level of injury. People with SCI
also lack the descending sympathetic control to respond appropriately to environmental changes in temperature. As a result, patients may experience high or low body temperatures. Temperature dysregulation can occur acutely following SCI and can persist for a lifetime. People with higher levels of injury and complete injuries are more likely to experience issues.
For more information, please see
https://scia.org.au/

The lifetime cost increases with the severity of injury. ASIA A/B averages to $8.5 million over a lifetime as opposed to a person with ASIA D, someone who has retained key muscle function, which costs an average of $3.4 million.