Would this have been even better?
I only saw preview not the movie but his brother dies instantly from a broken neck.
Wouldn't it have more emotional impact if instead of an instant death move he had really badly hurt the guy, beat him to death and damaged his internal organs, kind of an "Ivan Drago" type beating but his brother dies several hours later after being rushed to a hospital. All of the emotion of Kurt by his bedside praying that he would recover and his brother being in great pain and close to death before finally succumbing would to me have much more emotional impact than the quick death of a broken neck.