Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Urgent Warning Issued As Mom ‘Nearly Dies’ After Morning Yawn Was So ‘Forceful’ It Broke Her Neck
An urgent warning has been issued as a mom ‘nearly died’ after her morning yawn was so ‘forceful’ it broke her neck.
Hayley Black, who lives in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, woke up to fetch her newborn daughter, Amelia, a bottle and ‘instinctively’ let out a big yawn and stretch after watching her daughter yawn.
Instantly, the 36-year-old felt an ‘electric shock sensation’ shoot through her body, and her arm became ‘stuck in the air.’
Knowing there was ‘something dreadfully wrong,’ Black told her husband Ian to call an ambulance, as she was in ‘excruciating pain.’
The mom has since shared video footage on TikTok, and it’s accumulated over 1,000 views.
“Most people start their day with a big yawn and you’d never expect it to end up the way it did,” Black said.
“They saw yawns are contagious and I woke up at 5 a.m. 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 a.m. 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.
“I remember the journey to the hospital being excruciatingly painful and they had me in head blocks.”
When Black arrived at the hospital, doctors did not initially believe her as nothing was showing up in her scans, but she was given pain medication.
Then, she was informed the C6 and C7 bones in her neck had ‘shot forward into her spine’ because of the ‘force of her yawn.’
The mom was given a 50/50 chance of being able to walk again or survive. Fortunately, emergency surgery was successful.
She said: “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.”
Black, who now takes daily medication to manage her permanent nerve damage and has developed fibromyalgia, a long-term condition causing chronic pain, had to relearn how to walk and was in a wheelchair for months.
She’s also been left with a tracheal scar from where doctors removed the discs in her neck.
“The recovery was a long one physically and emotionally. It took me a long time to get my head round it,” Black recalled.
“My husband became almost essentially a single parent and my carer overnight. It was really hard and we became homeless over it.
“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.”
Black said the incident has had a long-lasting effect, adding: “I can’t yawn without panic and any yawn I try to stifle – it still affects me to this day.
“I keep trying to go back to work and I end up having so much time off sick that I end up losing the job or walking away. I can’t go and do exercise classes or run around with the children.
“I thank [the surgeons] everyday with the fact I’m here to be with my children and do the things that I can do.
“The fact I’m not in [a wheelchair] is a miracle and I’m eternally grateful.”
Now, the former emergency call handler hopes to spread awareness about hidden disabilities and urges people to ‘advocate for yourself.’
Black said: “I’m not the only one who’s had these freak incidents happen. It’s so delicate in that area, people don’t realise.
“The one thing I have taken from it is to be grateful for the small. Being chronically ill now because of it means I am so grateful for the good days, for the small moments, for being able to walk and for being here with my children and husband.
“For anyone going through chronic pain or healing from an injury or event that despite society’s pressure, you get to heal in your own raw messy way and you get to struggle because it’s hard and life-changing.
“You don’t have to be a hero or an inspiration, you get through each day how you can get through the best.
“Finally advocate for yourself and trust your instincts, you know when something is seriously wrong.”
Research has found that yawn-induced injuries are extremely rare, but rare doesn’t mean impossible.
Related Article: Neck-Cracking Habit Leaves Paramedic, 23, Paralyzed After Rupturing Major Artery
Related Article: Woman, 29, Dies After Chiropractor ‘Cracked Her Neck’
Want more stuff like this?
Get the best viral stories straight into your inbox!
