A woman has been left paralysed after a freak accident at a trampoline park.
Elle Yona and her then boyfriend were bouncing around when he suggested they try doing some backflips in the foam pit.
He had done them before and told Elle he could show her.
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But not long after landing in the foam, the 16-year-old started to feel cramps and painful sensations.
“I had been to trampoline parks a few times before for birthday parties but never on a date,” Elle, a dancer and student, told Need To Know.
“I was feeling excited.
“I felt prepared to do a lot of acrobatic things because I was a dancer and already had some tricks nailed down.
“But not long after doing a backflip into the foam, I felt a very bad, achy feeling.
“Within seconds it turned into something I knew was more serious than a standard cramp.
“The pain did not stop and it got increasingly painful by the minute.
“It was excruciating and I couldn’t stop crying.
“I thought I was going to be safe because of the foam pit.
“I did not have any doubts about safety but clearly something went wrong.”
Elle’s boyfriend ran to her mum, who was waiting in the sitting area, and the pair called for an ambulance.
She said: “My mother was very nervous.
“At first the [doctors at] A&E didn’t do any tests – I was just given a muscle relaxer and a neck collar on.
“They did not think it was very serious at first, because I managed to walk.
“But then I became more and more paralysed.
“My hands started to cramp up.
“Eventually my arms also became paralysed.
“In just two hours I became weaker and weaker until I couldn’t move.”
After an initial CT scan, Elle was sent for eight MRIs, four more CT scans, angiograms, blood work and an EKG.
She said: “I’d quickly become fully paralysed.
“I was also vomiting at the time so they didn’t know what was happening.
“They suspected a spinal cord stroke in the beginning but they ruled this out because my angiogram was clean, which gave us false hope, and they thought I was having a severe reaction to an autoimmune disease.
“It was so much more severe than we thought.”
After two weeks of being in the hospital with no improvements, Elle was officially diagnosed with having had a C4 incomplete quadriplegic injury caused by a spinal cord stroke, also known as a spinal cord infarction.
This occurs when blood flow to the spinal cord is interrupted, leading to damage or death of spinal cord tissue.
The teen, from Miami, Florida, said: “I never even knew spinal cord strokes existed.
“It took me several months to fully grasp the severity of my prognosis.
“There has only ever been 67 documented cases.”
The diagnosis devastated both Elle and her family.
She said: “In the first few days, they thought there was a chance I might die.
“They advised that the entire family fly down and to be prepared for the worst.
“There were a lot of tears and restless nights, and prayers of all kind.
“The doctors were certain that eventually my lungs would tire out since they thought my diaphragm was paralysed along with the rest of my body.
“Thankfully, this never occurred and my diaphragm strengthened over time.”
Medics are still not 100% sure what cased the spinal stroke.
Elle said: “They said an overextension of my neck could have caused a microscopic tear within one of my arteries connected to the spinal cord.
“Or a bit of fluid from between my discs slid into the artery – blocking blood flow to the spine, causing an infarction and preventing blood flow to the spinal cord.”
Since the accident, Elle has moved up in the spectrum of paralysis and recovered part of the function in her right arm and the sensation in all of her body.
Elle said: “I am still a quadriplegic and cannot do anything on my own.
“I am fully dependent on caregivers.
“I drive an electric wheelchair using my arm.
“But I still cannot use my hands or fingers.”
Elle now goes to intensive physical and occupational therapy five times a week, as well as outpatient therapy at a rehab, acupuncture and aqua therapy.
To help with the expenses, the family have set up a GoFundMe, with $165,833 raised out of $200,000 so far.
Her prognosis is currently unknown.
Elle said: “I’m scared that I will stay in a wheelchair my whole life.
“To not be able to walk down the aisle at my wedding or experience any chapters of my life without disability.
“Suddenly, I went from learning how to drive a car to learning how to drive a wheelchair using only my chin.
“I have to rely on another person to do every single thing, even getting ready in the morning, brushing my teeth and eating.
“I am constantly busy with physical therapy.
“I struggle with anxiety and depression.
“This has caused me to isolate myself.
“I live a hectic life full of medical treatments and therapy, and this does not leave a lot of time to stay in touch with friends.”
But Elle has hope for the future.
She added: “Don’t live your life in fear because of what happened to me, just live your life cautiously.
“Don’t live your life in fear – instead take precautions.”
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