Austrian snowboarder Markus Schairer had a bad fall competing in the men’s snowboard cross quarterfinals in his third Winter Olympics. He was able to finish the race, but was later diagnosed with a fracture of the fifth cervical vertebrae (broken bone in his neck).

The details of the injury are not known, but it’s notable that he was able to finish the race with a broken neck. That suggests that the injury did not harm his spinal cord, which is lucky for an injury so close to the spinal cord. It also suggests that the injury was relatively stable.

In baseball, a broken bat often looks normal and is structurally in one piece. Other times, a broken bat snaps in two. This was likely a stable type of injury, more like the bat that is still mostly intact, which is great news. An unstable neck fracture places the spinal cord and the nerves that go to the arms at risk. Spinal cord and nerve damage would cause tingling or numbness, and/or weakness or inability to make certain movements.

Schairer was transported back to Austria for additional evaluation and treatment. It sounds like he will just need to give his body time to heal (which could take 6-8 weeks), wearing a brace in the meantime for comfort and protection. He shared a picture of himself on Instagram in a neck brace and assured fans he will be fine.

This article was made by Alexa Ryder and David Ring