Mother 'almost died when she yawned so hard it broke her neck'
A mother has described ‘breaking her neck’ by yawning hard after waking up.
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Hayley Black took to TikTok to share how she woke to get a bottle for her newborn baby and let out a big yawn, but she ‘felt an electric shock sensation’ and her arm became ‘stuck in the air’.
She was in excruciating pain and told her husband Ian, 39, to call an ambulance.
She said she knew there was “something dreadfully wrong.”
She explained: “I yawned and immediately two discs shot forwards into my spinal cord compressing my spine.”
Doctors initially refused to believe her account and nothing initially showed up in scans, but she was later told her C6 and C7 bones in her neck had ‘shot forwards into her spine’ because of ‘the force of her yawn’.
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The C6 and C7 vertebrae are located at the bottom of the neck and support the weight of the head.
She underwent successful surgery to correct the issue but has been left with permanent nerve damage and is unable to work.
She says she no longer wants to yawn due to being afraid and always tries to stifle them.
She said: “ I woke up at 5am 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'.
She was eventually told she had broken the C6 and C7 discs in her neck.
She was left in a wheelchair for months and had to re-learn how to walk.
"The fact I'm not in [a wheelchair] is a miracle and I'm eternally grateful,” she 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.”