An Illinois lady who was internally decapitated in a life-altering event is sharing her incredible and drawn-out healing path.
During her high school gym class, Megan King, then 16 years old, fell to the ground while attempting to jump and catch a football.
She suffered injuries to her right ankle and spine in the 2005 tragedy. She ripped the muscle from both shoulder blades as well.
King used crutches for over a year, but her illness worsened rather than improved, leaving her in excruciating discomfort.
She had 22 surgeries over the years, but the doctors couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t healing properly.
King was ultimately diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) by medical professionals in 2015.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a collection of hereditary conditions that impact your connective tissues, mainly your skin, joints, and blood vessel walls.
Stretchy, fragile skin and excessively flexible joints are symptoms. People with hEDS, the most prevalent form of the condition, frequently have joint pain and dislocations.
King had a halo brace installed a year after receiving her diagnosis in order to support her spine and neck. However, she was internally beheaded during the brace removal process.
According to a study published in the World Journal of Orthopaedics, atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD), sometimes referred to as orthopaedic decapitation or internal decapitation, happens when the ligaments and/or bony structures that connect the skull to the spine are injured.
“I flew my chair back to keep gravity from decapitating me,” King, now 35 stated. “My neurosurgeon had to hold my skull in place with his hands. I couldn’t stand. My right side was shaking uncontrollably.”
Ninety percent of AOD cases result in quick death, making it usually lethal. To reattach King’s skull and spine, however, physicians managed to get her into emergency surgery and execute a spinal fusion. The bones heal as one because they are bonded together.
Although King survived the terrifying experience, she has subsequently undergone 37 surgeries as part of her recuperation. She is unable to move her head in any direction due to the accident, which fused her skull to her pelvis.
She declared, “I’m literally a human statue. My spine doesn’t move at all. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped living.”
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Doctors told King that her internal decapitation was probably caused by a combination of her high school fall and her weak joints from living with hEDS.
Twenty years later, King is gradually beginning to resume her regular hobbies, claiming that she was recently able to go bowling.
On my first attempt, I bowled a strike. My pals celebrated wildly, clapped, and screamed. They weren’t merely rejoicing over the strike. They were commemorating all of my survivals,” she remarked.
King continued, “I’m still learning what my new body can do. It’s not easy, but I’m adapting. And I’m always surprised by what I can still accomplish.”
