Many people tend to crack their joints, whether in their hands or neck, unconsciously or consciously. However, this 23-year-old’s nightmarish experience is a stark reminder to be careful of this habit.
Keep reading to learn more.
In 2019 Natalie Kunicki was 23 years old and had just finished a night out with her friends. She was at home, watching movies in bed. Out of habit, she stretched her neck and heard a loud crack.
She initially ignored it, even when a friend asked her whether the cracking sound had come from her neck. She recalls the moment, “All my joints crack quite a bit, so I didn’t think anything of it. I just laughed.”
15 minutes later, she had to go and use the bathroom, however, her leg would not move. Natalie suddenly found herself collapsed on the floor.
This was when it dawned on her that something was really wrong.
Natalie, who works for the London Ambulance Service, had unknowingly ruptured her vertebral artery. This is one of the major arteries in the neck. The events that unfolded afterwards involved a blood clot forming in her brain, which cut off oxygen and hence triggered a stroke.
She shared, “People need to know that even if you’re young, something this simple can cause a stroke.”
She revealed later that the reason she did not ring emergency services was that she did not want a crew she knew to come over and find her ‘tipsy.’
She shared, “I was trying to call 999, but I was dithering about it. There was a high chance the crew who turned up would be my friends, and I didn’t want them to see me tipsy.”
Natalie went on to explain, “I think they did look at me at first like 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. She had burst her vertebral artery and had 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 cleared completely.
She shared, “I expected to wake up from this miracle surgery and everything would be fixed, but my mobility was worse, and they couldn’t clear the clot.”
She was left with her left side partially paralyzed as a result of the stroke.
Natalie added about the ordeal, “At the start, I couldn’t move my thumb and forefinger. I could kind of move my wrist up and down. I couldn’t lift my arm. I could bend my left leg, but I couldn’t wiggle my toes.”
She went through months of intense rehab, which helped her recover movement in the left side of her body. However, she is still unable to walk for more than five minutes.
She is hoping to raise awareness about strokes, emphasizing that it does not matter if you are young. She said, “Mine was one in a million, but a ruptured vertebral artery is actually quite a common cause of strokes in young people… they will be in the gym or doing something quite physical, and it happens. Strokes are also quite common in kids.”
Natalie is doing a big service to humanity by raising awareness about a little-known issue that could potentially be deadly. Share this article with others, especially active young people, to help raise more awareness.
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