Sternal fracture

The sternum is the bone that holds everything together. It connects your ribs into a closed ring, it protects your heart and lungs, it is the hard centre of your upper body. When this bone breaks, something fundamental breaks. A protective wall you built for yourself gives way. A central structure at the core of your body loses its invulnerability.

A sternal fracture is usually the result of massive force — an accident, a fall, an impact. Medically, it is rare, because the sternum is a robust bone. It only gives way when the pressure is great enough. And that is precisely the deeper message: something massive was at play. Something you could no longer bear. Something that had to blow open the armour you had placed around your heart.