Hanging is a common method of execution, which was first used in Persia 2500 years ago. It involves putting a rope round someone’s neck and suspending them from it. What exactly happens when someone is hanged?

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There are four types of hanging: the short drop, suspension hanging, the standard drop and the long drop.

4 types of hanging
The short drop involves tying a rope round someone’s neck and putting them on a cart or a horse, which is then pulled away, leaving them hanging – usually on a tree branch. Asphyxiation is often the cause of death.

Suspension hanging involves moveable gallows, such as a crane, or a gallows with a pulley. The condemned person is hoisted up, killing them.

The standard drop is between four and six feet high and is meant to break the condemned person’s neck instantly. This does not always happen and asphyxiation is sometimes the cause of death. This could take up to 45 minutes.

The long drop involves a height of between four and ten feet. The length of the rope is determined by the weight of the condemned person. In some cases, however, the force of the drop is such that the person’s neck is severed.

In most cases, a condemned person’s hands and feet are bound together, and he/she is blindfolded, before the noose is placed around the neck. If the rope is too long, decapitation could be the result and if it is too short, lengthy strangulation could be the cause of death.

What happens to your body
When you are hanged, several things can happen to your body. Severing of the neck is actually a best-case scenario.

The spinal cord is severed between the first and the second vertebrae, causing instant paralysis and immobilisation. The bad news is that you are not necessarily rendered unconscious. Death by asphyxiation, better known as strangulation, follows. This often happens when the condemned person has strong neck muscles, is very light, or if the drop is too short.

More frequent than a rapid fracture dislocation of the neck is the closing off of the carotid arteries and the jugular veins. Cardiac arrest can follow if the pressure in the carotid arteries is high. If the veins in the neck are closed off, blood cannot drain from the brain, which is why when people are hanged, their faces become purple. Blood capillaries on the face and the neck will burst, and the tongue will protrude. Many people soil their pants.

When a condemned person’s heart stops beating, he/she is considered dead. The heart may continue to beat for several minutes after the brain is no longer functional.

(Susan Erasmus, Health24, January 2007)

Sources: http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu and http://www.wikipedia.com

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