Young woman cracked her neck and was left paralyzed - now she wants to warn others about the unexpected danger

Many people tend to crack their joints (make a popping sound), whether in their hands or neck, consciously or unconsciously. However, the experience of 23-year-old Natalie Kunicki is a stark reminder to be wary of this habit.

In 2019, Natalie Kunicki was 23 years old when she returned home from a night out with friends. She was at home, watching a movie in bed. Out of habit, she stretched her neck and heard a loud cracking sound.

She initially ignored it, even when a friend asked her if the cracking sound came from her neck. She recalls the moment: "All my joints crack quite a lot, so I didn't think about it. I just laughed."

Fifteen minutes later, she had to go to the bathroom, but her leg wouldn't move. Natalie suddenly found herself collapsing on the floor. That's when she realized something was seriously wrong.

Natalie, who works for the London Ambulance Service as a paramedic, had unknowingly torn her vertebral artery. This is one of the main arteries in the neck. The events that followed included the formation of a blood clot in her brain, which cut off the oxygen supply and thus caused a stroke.

She shared, "People need to know that even if you're young, something as simple as that can cause a stroke."

She later revealed that the reason she didn't call emergency services was that she didn't want a crew she knew to arrive and find her "drunk."

She shared, "I tried to call 999, but I hesitated. There was a high chance the crew who arrived would be my friends, and I didn't want them to see me drunk."

Natalie went on to explain, "I think they looked at me at first as if they thought I was just a classic drunk 23-year-old, but I told them I was a paramedic and I knew something was wrong." When she was taken to the hospital, doctors confirmed Natalie's suspicions. Her vertebral artery had ruptured, and she had suffered a stroke. She was rushed into a three-hour surgery where surgeons managed to repair the artery with a stent. However, the clot in her brain could not be entirely cleared.

She shared, "I expected to wake up from that surgery and everything would be fixed, but my mobility was worse, and they hadn't been able to clear the clot."

She was left with a partially paralyzed left side as a result of the stroke.

Natalie elaborated on the difficult experience, "At first, I couldn't move my thumb and index finger. I could move my wrist up and down. But I couldn't lift my arm. I could bend my left leg, but I couldn't move my toes."

She underwent months of intensive rehabilitation, which helped her restore movement to the left side of her body. However, she is still unable to walk for more than five minutes.

She hopes to raise awareness about strokes, emphasizing that age doesn't matter. She said, "Mine was a one-in-a-million, but a torn vertebral artery is actually a quite common cause of stroke in young people... They'll be at the gym or doing something quite physical, and it happens. Stroke is quite common in children too."

Natalie is doing a great service to humanity by raising awareness about a little-known issue that can be fatal. Please share this article with others, especially active young people, to help raise awareness of this issue.