Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of injuries which some readers may find distressing.
The internet was horrified when a graphic video of Charlie Kirk being murdered was shared, and it revealed how quickly he was killed.
The 31-year-old political activist was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, and an ally of Donald Trump.
Kirk was on his ‘American Comeback Tour’, travelling around college campuses and was answering questions at Utah Valley University when he was shot.
The father-of-two was hit by one bullet to the neck, and was rushed to a nearby car and taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead, and a National Day of Remembrance has been announced.
After a manhunt spreading over two days, 22-year-old student Tyler Robinson was arrested, and has since appeared in court charged with aggravated murder, and prosecutors are asking for the death penalty.
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Tyler Robinson was arrested following a manhunt and has been charged with aggravated murder (Office of the Governor of Utah)
An ER doctor has now broken down what would have happened to Charlie in the seconds after he was shot, based on the video that went viral.
Posting on reddit, the medic wrote: “I’ve seen plenty of gore and grime, but this video stands out for two reasons,” before explaining the two main aspects of the shooting that caused such a catastrophic result.
“Charlie was shot in the anterior triangle of the neck – right where the carotid artery splits into its branches,” they explained.
“The moment he was hit, bright red, pulsating blood gushed out,” the ER doctor continued.
“Each pulse was literally his heart pumping straight through the wound. He would have lost litres in just minutes,” they wrote.
Secondly, they noted how his body language illustrated enormous internal damage had been caused: “The instant he’s shot, his posture collapses and his arms/wrists flex unnaturally (flaccid paralysis).”
The ER medic explained what happened in the moments following the shooting (Getty Stock)
“That’s spinal shock – his cervical spine likely severed. The nerves controlling movement and breathing are cut, meaning he would have immediately lost the ability to move and to breathe,” they described.
One commenter replied: “When he continued to hold the microphone while clearly immediately going unconscious I thought it definitely had to be some spinal cord damage and most likely immediate unconsciousness followed by death within like half a minute.”
The medic replied: “So likely he was dead before he got to the car. By dead I mean the cause of death was hypovolaemia (loss of circulating volume) leading to cardiac arrest.”
“It’s a reversible cause, within reason, so I’m sure they tried to give him blood products/fluids, tamponade the bleed, assess his heart rhythm to see if it responded and when all that failed, then they called it,” they added.
Replying to a query from a commenter asking why it took so long for the news of his death to break, they replied: “Also we, as the public, found out last as family were informed first.
