Quote Originally Posted by Fyraltari View Post
What like the spine? I guess that makes sense.
It's more that there's a level 'partially crushed' for the windpipe that is still fatal because it doesn't permit sufficient oxygen to enter the lungs to sustain life. So the victim still suffocates, but because oxygen intake hasn't dropped to zero it takes longer. This can take hours or even days depending on the degree of hypoxia. This is why extremely high mountains have 'death zones' a region above which human life cannot be permanently sustained. Since the Queen was receiving sufficient airflow to speak, however weakly, she probably could have been saved through medical intervention like a pure oxygen breathing supply or being intubated, and hypothetically Anakin could have used the Force to open the windpipe back up, but he never was much of a medic.