The Horse Hospital: Die Cheerleaders: 'Catastrophic cheerleading injuries' is not a title to ignore.
Of 39 incidents reported to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury between 1982 and 2002, the authors reviewed 29.
Twenty seven of the injured were women, and the rate of injuries among college cheerleaders was five times that among high schoolers. The most common injury provoking stunts were a 'pyramid' and a 'basket toss.' The injuries included 17 severe head injuries leading to 13 skull fractures and two deaths, eight cervical fractures, and three spinal cord contusions
( American Journal of Sports Medicine 2003 ;31:881 -8 )