Woman, 23, partially paralysed after hearing abnormal click in her neck
A young woman from Canberra, Australia, has been partially paralysed after cracking her neck accidentally in bed.
Natalie Kuniciki, a 23-year-old paramedic living in London, was watching movies with a friend after a night out on March 4 when she noticed an abnormal click in her neck.
Thinking nothing of it, she tried to get up to go to the bathroom minutes later but fell to the ground.
Despite losing feeling in her left leg, she was reluctant to call emergency services as she didn’t want her colleagues to think she was drunk, The Sun reported.
But as she tried to sleep it off after her friend picked her up, she soon realised it was far more serious.
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“I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t so I called 999. I told them I was a paramedic and I knew something was wrong,” she told the publication.
Preliminary tests from paramedics at her home indicated a serious issue and Ms Kuniciki was rushed to hospital.
Further tests revealed she had suffered a stroke and would need emergency surgery.
“The doctors told me later that just that stretching of my neck had caused my vertebral artery to rupture,” she said.
Ms Kuniciki revealed it was a “one in a million” chance it happened to her, especially due to her healthy lifestyle and with no history of strokes in her family.
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Initially losing movement in the left side of her body, she is making strong progress and can now walk unaided for up to five minutes.
Doctors believe she could return to full fitness in just six months.
She revealed she was eager to get back to work, adding it was “strange” to be on the receiving end of treatment from paramedics.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Ms Kuniciki with her rehabilitation while she is off work.
