Woman nearly dies after yawning too hard and breaking her neck
Topics: Health, Women's Health, True Life, Real Life, Life
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Topics: Health, Women's Health, True Life, Real Life, Life
A mum has shared the horrifying moment she nearly died after yawning so hard it broke her neck.
Hayley Black was looking after her newborn baby, and as any parent will tell you, it's tiring work.
Sleepless nights, waking windows, early starts and routines are all out of whack. It's a hard time for new parents, and sleep is top of the list of things you need more of.
It's no wonder then that the young mum was tired, and that's when everything changed for the worse for the family.
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The 36-year-old recalled yawning instinctively after seeing her baby daughter yawn too. However, the young mum says she instantly knew something was wrong.
Hayley recalls feeling an 'electric shock sensation' shooting through her body, and her arm became 'stuck in the air'.
That's when she asked her husband, Ian Black, 39, to call an ambulance.
The young mum said she was in 'excruciating pain' and knew 'something dreadfully wrong'.
She says doctors didn't spot anything initially, until she was eventually told the C6 and C7 bones in her neck had 'shot forwards into her spine' because of the 'force of her yawn'.
Hayley shared her story on TikTok, as she fortunately survived the surgery to repair the bones.
However, despite the surgery being a success, she has sustained permanent nerve damage which has left her unable to work.
The experience, back in May 2016, has also left her psychologically scarred, and she says she unsurprisingly tries to 'stifle' any yawns now.
Hayley, who lives in Milton Keynes, said: "Most people start their day with a big yawn and you'd never expect it to end up the way it did.
"They say yawns are contagious and I woke up at 5.00am and I looked over and saw my daughter yawning.
"Instinctively I yawned and I stretched to get up and make her a bottle.
"I felt this immediate electric shock sensation go through half my body, and I jumped up in shock."
"My arm got stuck in the air and I was having these electric spark sensations. It was like having a seizure down half of my body. I knew instantly something was dreadfully wrong.
"I said to my husband 'you need to call an ambulance; something's happened to my neck'. He was like 'it's 5.00am you've not done anything, you're fine'. I said 'something's seriously wrong' and he made the baby's bottle and rang an ambulance."
It was the start of a lot of pain for Hayley.
She recalls: "I was screaming in pain all night and I had the gas and air. I was trying to hit myself in the head to try to knock myself out because I was in so much pain."
Scans initially came out clear, leading to more frustration.
"Nobody was listening to me and I was like 'something is seriously wrong'. The nurses were getting frustrated with me and said 'there's nothing on the scans, you're okay'.
"[But then] the doctors did some tests and the surgeon said 'this is worse than what we thought'. I was completely paralysed down my right-hand side.
"It was crazy. The C6 and C7 had shot forwards into my spine when I yawned [due to] the force of the yawn. They said it was such a freak incident.
"My mum told me [the doctor] said 'it's a 50/50 whether she's going to walk and potentially survive. I got told by another doctor at a later date it was because my oxygen levels were so low.
"I remember my mum being there while they put me to sleep. I woke up and they'd restored all functions which was amazing. I'm so lucky but I'm still really traumatised."
Following the surgery she had to learn how to walk again.
"I'm still struggling from the nerve damage today. I often get pains going down my arms, shooting down my back and up into my neck and my head.
"If I don't take the medication then every time I take a step I get electrical shocks all up my spine and through into my head.
"I thank [the surgeons] everyday with the fact I'm here to be with my children and do the things that I can do."
She advises everyone to 'advocate for yourself and trust your instincts, you know when something is seriously wrong'.