Injuries you can get from getting beat up

Hi there, new stuck writer here!
I have a character, Max, who gets jumped one night by four guys, all with a bone to pick with him. They take turns hitting him for a few minutes, hard enough to send him to the ground and start kicking him when he's down before Max's two friends show up and scare them off.
Oof. Sorry Max.
I'm trying to figure out what injuries Max would get from a beating like this, how it would limit/slow him down, and how to write it realistically. I was thinking cracked/broken ribs (whichever is more realistic), a concussion, black eye, maybe a broken nose and a crap ton of bruises and scrapes/cuts. Would that be a realistic outcome for him? The four guys are all bigger and older than him but not by a whole lot, none have any weapons though one has steel toed boots (works with horses).
I want him to be hurt enough to put him out of commission for a week or two, maybe three, long enough to drive him crazy and wanting to get back to work, but not hurt enough to have to spend more than a night at the hospital, if that.
Max is a tough kid and is used to pain on a pretty regular basis from his job and daring nature so this is suppose to really push him to the limit and force him to slow down and take it easy when it's the last thing he wants to do.
I appreciate any help, this is a pivotal point in the story and I want to get it right. I can expand on anything as needed.

 

Uhm, no these injuries are far too mellow in my opinion, depending on how serious they want to beat him up. But if they have made up their mind and are all going for him, I'd expect that they would mean business. I mean, if you want to deliver a lesson, what's a black eye among friends? It's gone in a week. A cracked rib? See me laughing. As resilient as the human body is, if there are four guys bent on fucking your MC up, he's not getting away that easily.

Mind, I've never been in a streetfight, but I know what adrenalin does to one's body, and I guess I've read up a bit. Maybe @big soft moose can provide some case studies. For research, read about Northern Ireland (the IRA), Israel (particularly the order to break bones in the 70s), and Iraq's secret police under Saddam.

 

It depends on their motivation. Are they being cocky assholes fueled by one another's testosterone? Did this character do something that made them actually angry? Is their intention just to rough him up to teach him a lesson or do they really want to hurt him? How do they feel/do they have the presence of mind to care about going to jail? If someone took a steel toe to the head, that could be fatal. That said, a single punch could be fatal. As a reader, what you have described would be sufficient for me without knowing more about the context. Those injuries would likely have him in the hospital overnight. If he does physical work, broken ribs would be enough to have him off work for a while.

 

Those are both good points, thank you.
These guys are plenty mad, but they also definitely don't want to kill him.
A basic run down on the beef they have is Max indirectly caused them to lose their jobs by suing the company all five used to work for. Before that they were actually good friends. So I'm thinking it's more of a teach him a lesson thing, maybe gone too far/gotten out of hand.
As for the steel toe boots, if he did avoid getting kicked in the head, it would definitely break ribs then, or possibly even an arm? I've been debating an arm injury too.

 

It would break ribs. It could at least fracture an arm, I think breaking it would depend on the angle but not impossible.

 

Interesting. Looks like poor Max is in for some more pain. This helps a lot thank you.
I'm starting to wonder if I have him conscious the right amount here. Currently I have him sort of vaguely aware/semi conscious for the last bit of the fight and finally passing out when his friends arrive and he realizes he's safe. Maybe that's too lenient?

Another thing I forgot to put in the original post is that he wears contacts and how that would affect him. I only wear glasses so I'm really not sure how contacts hold up at all, let alone in a fight. Would they move around or fall out with him getting punched in the face?

 

He'd probably scratch or cut his corneas, which takes a long time to heal. I had severe corneal abrasions when I was 17 from wearing my lenses too long without a break, and it took almost six months for them to heal, because it's so easy to get an eye infection.

Other injuries he could get that I haven't seen are a broken cheekbone, a jaw that's broken in several places, or a broken eye socket.

 

I agree that if these guys mean business, a few minutes of beating him would leave him with more serious injuries than you've outlined. Can you get them interrupted earlier?

I wouldn't worry about the contacts. If they're modern soft contacts there shouldn't be an issue (unless you want to make one).

I would caution about the concussion - I think readers are becoming more aware of how serious and long-lasting the effects of concussion can be, and it's getting harder to suspend disbelief about characters who get a concussion and don't have side effects for the rest of the novel. You may still be able to get away with it, but... it's tricky.

 

This is an interesting and informative website. Yikes....
http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~leiafee/ramblings/realistic_injuries.htm#head

 

I agree with @Reece about the intentions they're going into it with. I imagine once it gets going though, the severity of the beating snowballing would be pretty high. Any damage to the head can be fatal, steel toes or not. He could even have a fit as a result of his head injuries, or be left with permanent brain damage.
I'd suggest to think of the movements of each of the characters during the beating, but particularly Max. It's instinct to adopt the fetal position when under physical attack, or even when you feel sad or ill. It gives a feeling of comfort and security, and it's practical where physical assault is concerned. If he's being kicked on the ground, I'd say that was a certainty. He won't have any chance against 4 other people, so his only option is self preservation. Pulling his legs into his body, he may end up with damage to them too. Those could be the last injuries he sustains just before/when his friends arrive.

ETA: The location where it happens will make a difference too, say if he is on gravel or stone tiles. If it's indoors or outside. What clothing Max has on at the time, whether he has a watch, rings, etc. They could cause different injuries to his body.
The weather if outside at the time of the attack. Heat would likely cause him more blood loss, whereas cold should speed clotting. Hypothermia may be a possible danger if it's cold too. There are a lot of variables, and different possible outcomes. Have fun with it.

 

Just write it simple: 'You bust my nose, my kidneys are sore and I couldn't see straight all week...' otherwise it'll never get written.

No need for the one punch/snap femur horrors at this stage.

 

Wow this got so many replies just overnight, thank you so much everyone, this scene is really coming together.
Max would definitely get in a defensive position as soon as he's on the ground and protect his head that way so I'm hoping not to have too lasting of effects in that area, since he's still got quite a few conflicts to think himself out of. I might have to lessen his sentence here, a month is pretty long.
For the after effects of all this, when would the pain be at its worst? Would it be immediately after, say when the adrenaline wears off, or maybe the next day when it has a chance to settle in? From the research I did I figured he'd be dizzy and unsteady, but to what extent? Like would he be able to walk supported by someone say into the hospital? Or would he pretty much need to be carried? Would he be fine to walk short distances, like within the house short, after he gets released?
One thing that's proving oddly difficult to figure is actually finding a hospital for him to go to. They were in a pretty small town when it happened, maybe with an Insta-Care or small hospital at most, and he lives on a ranch an hour or two from any town to speak of, and quite a few hours from an actual emergency room. Would this cause a problem or would the Insta-Care be able to give him the help he needed? How much pain would he be in on the way home?

 

He wouldn't be able to walk or stand. He would have to crawl. Just a cracked rib is enough to keep you curled up on the ground, since breathing comes extremely difficult. Now, add some internal bleeding to the kidneys and supposedly to the stomach area and you've got a person that is just struggling not to pass out from the pain. Next time he pees, it's certain he is gonna be peeing blood. Probably you won't need to show this in your story, but realistically speaking, that's a given. He will also lose weight during his recovery because he won't be able to indulge in eating. Don't have the guys kicking him in the face. He will die. You kick someone in the face with martins only if you want to kill him. Don't have the guys kicking him at his spine. If he's not left disabled, he is going to need a lot of time in order to just be able to walk again and the damage on the spine never really heals completely, meaning that most probably he won't be able to run, jump, carry heavy stuff, etc, ever again.

 

Boy is this kid gonna have a rough time when this is through lol.
Realistically then it'd be at least two days or three until he can stand by himself? That's with a concussion (a mild-moderate one if he protected his head enough), the bruised and broken ribs, some internal bleeding (hopefully not too much if he got his legs up to protect his gut), injured arm and fingers (I just remembered that he does wear a ring, so that's gonna hurt), and quite bruised and sore legs.
I was thinking along the same lines on areas to avoid, that would be bad. I'm hoping having his arms up in front of his face will be enough to protect him in that way. Originally I was thinking of having him fall so his back is to a wall and that way they can't get an angle to kick his spine. Maybe I should still go with that, I definitely don't want him permanently injured.
Thanks everyone, this is super helpful. I think I'm almost ready to rewrite the scene.

 

If he's being beaten against a wall, he'll likely get additional injuries from the force pushing him against it too.

 

Ooh good point. So it'd have to be far enough away from the wall so they can't use it as leverage but close enough so they can't get behind him.

 

Good idea. If I were in his shoes, surrounded by these guys, I'd instinctively search for a wall to cover my back so I wouldn't be jumped from behind.

 

I feel like there was a very famous case where exactly what you described happened: four big guys in workboots beat up someone else: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King He ended up with 11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken teeth and bones, and kidney failure. If you aren't squeamish, there is a video of this event.

 

This is beginning to distress me.

Joey tossed sand in his face. Tony threw a fist and it grazed his brow. Arthur scissor-kicked, his sandals fluttered past his belly. Only Rupert made contact with the flesh of his mouth and he bled and he cried needing a week away from the factory to recuperate.

"Don't come back...too soon," they all said.

It doesn't have to be an execution. It is fiction.

 

That's what I thought, hurting the most right after with deeper ache (right?) later. Also @big soft moose that is a way badass story, and informative.
@matwoolf as easy and problem solving as that would be it is a pivotal point in the story it needs to be a bit more dramatic than that to further the plot along. That is, to force Max to slow down to the point where he questions himself and his whole goal, wondering if it's worth it or even right. A two paragraph fist fight isn't gonna cut it.
This is super helpful everyone, thank you so much. I think the scene works now.

 

Depending on where he gets hit, the injuries could differ. Although I'd make some of the injuries permanent without having them conflict too much with Max's end goal, like a deviated septum, something that might stick with him for life physically, or also mentally. The mental part would work if the injuries were much more severe and possibly permanent, which also might bring forth a certain motivation for whatever he wants to accomplish, but that's not the main idea. Also, blunt force trauma would most definitely be suffered, especially with the steel toed boots.

 

Ok. I mean, this is fiction. Some inaccuracies aren't considered evil. Would we watch Jackie Chan films if they were realistic? Hell no! Just don't overdo it.

 

1. RIP - in real life.

2. He dies. Or if he does not, then he gets permanent injuries.

3. You write his funerals in realistic way.

4. That is not realistic at all.

Watch this:



Attack starts at 0:06 and it's over at 0:16. That's ten seconds. And the victim is totally unable to defend himself. 20 seconds more and he dies.