A broken body isn’t a broken person

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_shepherd_a_broken_body_isn_t_a_broken_person.html

Gravel -  n. An unconsolidated mixture of rock fragments or pebbles.

The AK-47 he was carrying dropped into the gravel.

It felt as if the slide rail were made of gravel.

To fracture- n. The act or process of breaking.

We are so fractured, so far from ready.

They're sick, hurt, fractured, frightened.

Stitch up- v. to close by sewing

Catheter- n. A hollow flexible tube for insertion into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway. Its uses include the drainage of urine from the bladder through the urethra or insertion through a blood vessel into the heart for diagnostic purposes.

Carefully, she pulled the catheter off the needle, sliding it into the vein.

Instantly Catherine thrust the tip of the urinary catheter into the hole.

Calipers- n. usually, plural only A device used to measure thickness between two surfaces, especially for small or precise measurements.

“Not 'calipers', those little measuring, pinchy-things.”

“What kind of calipers do you use to measure human dignity, anyhow?”

To tarmac-  n. A tarmacadam road or surface, especially an airport runway.

Dozens of small planes sat in neat rows on the tarmac.

They scraped him off the tarmac like a dab of strawberry jam.

Paraplegia- n. Complete paralysis of the lower half of the body including both legs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord.

“Paralysis of the posterior half of the body is known as paraplegia and results from derangement of the spinal cord.”

“Mr. Callahan said he realized his paraplegia was not the problem; his alcoholism was.”

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_shepherd_a_broken_body_isn_t_a_broken_person.html