At just 16 years old, one woman’s life changed forever during high school gym class.
In 2005, Megan King, who is now 35, suffered an injury that spiraled into severe, nearly deadly conditions, causing her head to almost be “internally decapitated,” the Daily Mail reported.
According to the outlet, King had simply leaped to catch a soccer ball when she fell the wrong way. This led to her injuring her ankle and spine, as well as tearing the muscle off both of her shoulder blades.
Ouch.
Woman Decapitated in Freak Gym Accident, but Doctors Reattached Her Head
After spending a year on crutches, King’s condition only worsened. Unfortunately, the woman ended up undergoing numerous surgeries, dislocating her neck, wearing a Halo brace, and almost suffering from internal decapitation, where the skull becomes detached from the spine. This occurred when a surgeon attempted to remove the Halo device from her skull.
“I flew my chair back to keep gravity from decapitating me,” King told Daily Mail. “My neurosurgeon had to hold my skull in place with his hands. I couldn’t stand it. My right side was shaking uncontrollably.”
She was then rushed into emergency surgery.
At first, doctors couldn’t understand why King’s condition kept deteriorating. However, she eventually was diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), which they believe might be to blame for the series of unfortunate events.
According to The Ehlers-Danlos Society, “Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder that causes generalized joint hypermobility, joint instability, and chronic pain. hEDS is also associated with a variety of other symptoms and related conditions that affect many different areas of the body.”
This genetic disorder—paired with King’s brutal fall in high school—likely contributed to her near decapitation, among other injuries.
In total, King has undergone 37 surgeries. She is now fused from her skull to her pelvis, severely limiting her movements but ultimately saving her life, Daily Mail reported.
“I’m literally a human statue,” she told the outlet. “My spine doesn’t move at all. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped living.”
