Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6863431-20150103062825/@comment-26019879-20150223233503

There is. A broken spine is simply a break in one of the vertebra (possibly more than one vertebra too). A severed spine is where both the column and the cord break off. If this occurs above the Cervical 2 or Cevical 3 vertebra, you're gonna die from asphyxiation. Any lower, and it will not necessarily be fatal, but it still could be.