Broke never again commanded a ship. The head wound from a cutlass blow, which had exposed the brain, had been very severe accompanied by great blood loss. Therapeutic bleeding, routinely employed at the time, was not performed by "Shannon"s surgeon Mr Alexander Jack, which was to Broke's advantage. The report of the surgeon described the wound as "a deep cut on the parietal bone, extending from the top of the head ... towards the left ear, bone penetrated for at least three inches in length". Broke survived the wound into moderate old age (64 years), though he was debilitated. He suffered, to a greater or lesser extent, from headaches and other neurological problems for the rest of his life. The casualties were heavy. The British lost 23 killed and 56 wounded. The Americans lost 48 killed and 99 wounded. Between the wounded of the ships' two companies, another 23 died of their wounds in the two weeks following the action. Relative to the total number of men participating, this was one of the bloodiest ship-to-ship actions of the age of sail. By comparison, suffered fewer casualties during the whole of the Battle of Trafalgar. The entire action had lasted, at most, for 15 minutes, speaking to the ferocity of the fighting.