Klein also discussed with Abdunnur that Paxin’s CT scan showed two other spine conditions: ankylosing spondylitis and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis.
On direct examination, Abdunnur said the DISH would not have affected this injury, and that the spondylitis was “a preexisting condition that, yes, was a factor — a potential factor in his spinal cord injury.” Commonly, some people with ankylosing spondylitis do not realize they have it and their reduced range of motion is what feels normal to them, he also noted.
The defense lawyer showed a picture of a flexion injury for comparison, suggesting it was quite like the CT image of Paxin’s injury; Abdunnur said it was exactly opposite. Bone fragments were the result not of crushing from a head-forward flexion injury but of splitting from a head-backward extension injury, he said.
Abdunnur also said Paxin’s spondylitis meant that the quality of bone that he had, and its behavior, were different from the norm.
Paxin was a retired tower crane operator and trainer who, on Nov. 8, 2017, was on his way from his home in Gardnerville to Reno, Nevada, to pick up a wheelchair as part of his volunteer work repairing wheelchairs for fellow Vietnam veterans.
