A CHEERLEADER was caught on video snapping her neck while doing a backflip – as she blacked out “at the worst possible moment”.
Corey Martens, 29, had stepped in last minute to perform in the halftime show at an American football game when the “freak accident” happened.
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The clip from November 2 shows her teammate perfectly executing the “back handspring up” seconds before she makes her own attempt.
But on her turn, instead of landing on her partner’s hands, Corey “blacked out”- meaning her head sickeningly crunches into the floor, snaps back under her and breaks her neck.
An onlooker at the Morehead State University event is heard gasping as Corey curls up in pain, while her teammates wince and rush to her assistance.
Corey, who lives in Kentucky, US, says she “blacked out at the worst possible moment” while performing the complex move due not having eaten enough food and low iron levels.
Read more on spinal injuries
The back handspring up is usually executed by the cheerleader thrusting their body back onto their hands and then jumping back onto their feet, landing on their partner’s hands.
Instead of using her hands to push herself off the floor, Corey hit her head.
She says she was “very lucky” not to have been left paralysed after the horror fall broke one of her vertebrae.
Corey, who was cheerleading for her “dream team” Morehead State against and University of St. Thomas at the time of the accident, said: “I was not actually originally in it [the performance].
“But a bunch of people were missing – either because of injuries or because they were out of town, so I ended up jumping in to do it.
“When I went to throw the back handspring up, I ended up blacking out – which we brought down to not having eaten enough food and I had low iron levels.
“It [blacking out] only lasted for a second but it happened at the worst time.
“My feet didn’t leave the ground and I didn’t actually jump, I just landed straight on my head.”
A call was made to 911 and Corey – who has been cheerleading since she was 12 years old – was rushed to St Claire Hospital, Morehead, Kentucky, by ambulance.
When she arrived at the hospital, doctors were “unsure” just how serious the break in Corey’s neck was and she was rushed for a CAT scan and x-rays.
The last thing I knew I was going for the back handspring – I thought I would at least make it over – but I didn’t
Corey Martens
Corey said: “After the x-rays they found out I had a non-displaced C5 [vertebrae] fracture.
“It was definitely worrying. They told me that because it was non-displaced, that basically meant that it wasn’t pushing on any of my nerves, and that’s why I wasn’t suffering from any neurological effects.”
Corey was lucky to have narrowly escaped being paralysed and after just six hours in the hospital, was allowed to return home the same evening.
The cheerleader, who works as a barista at Starbucks, said: “I feel very lucky because fractures between C4 and C6 [vertebrae] very commonly cause paralysation and I was lucky that the break was far away from the nerves in that area.
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“But they [the doctors] wanted to make sure that I didn’t move it because I’d also pulled all of the tendons and muscles around my neck and it was really sore.
“They told me not to do any of my normal activity for the most part.
“I could walk but I had to leave the neck brace on 24/7 for two and a half weeks.
“I was allowed to take it off for small periods of time – when I was showering, or changing – but I still wore it when I was sleeping and anywhere else I was going.
“It was scary at first, but after the first week they [the doctors] weren’t worried about any neurological effects because if it hadn’t shown up by then, it shouldn’t anymore. I felt a lot better about it after that.”
‘Painful’ footage
The horrific accident was captured on camera by Corey’s assistant coach.
She admits that it was “painful” to watch the footage back for the first time – but she was brave enough to do so just a day later.
Corey said: “I was curious about what had happened. I didn’t know what it [the accident] looked like or where it went wrong.
“I knew that I had blacked out and I felt that happen, but I didn’t know why I landed on my head.
How serious are neck fractures?
A fractured neck can be very serious and tends be caused by sports injuries, car accidents or falls.
There are seven spinal bones – called vertebrae – in the neck.
These are known as the cervical vertebrae, and are numbered C1 down to C7, beginning at the base of the skull.
While also providing structure to the body, the vertebrae also protect the spinal cord – which carries nerve signals from your brain to the rest of your body.
Any damage to your spinal cord can affect your movement or function.
A ‘neck fracture’ usually refers to a fracture in one of the cervical bones.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that the spinal cord has been injured.
Immediate symptoms following a neck fracture can include pain, numbness, swelling, tingling and trouble breathing.
If the injury has affected the spinal cord, someone might have trouble moving.
A stable C-spine vertebral injury that hasn’t affected the spinal cord will have a very high likelihood for full recovery with the right treatment.
Source: Total Community Care
“The last thing I knew I was going for the back handspring – I thought I would at least make it over – but I didn’t.
“It was painful watching it back, but I’m the type of person that jokes around. Anything that happens, I make light of situations. So after that I kind of laughed about it.
“After watching it quite a few times, my husband and I were laying in bed and made the video for TikTok because it was a silly way to bring it up, but kind of make it a light-hearted situation and not something so detrimental.”
After sharing the video of the accident on TikTok the clip went viral, racking up more than 737,000 likes, comments and views.
Back at it
The cheerleader is determined not to let the accident stop her in her tracks.
Just a month after the fall, she has already returned to the sport, despite being “scared” about attempting the move that injured her again.
Corey said: “This week has been my first week back. I’m still not allowed to tumble, or do pyramids, baskets, or dismounts, but I’m allowed to start doing stunting and seeing how I feel.
“I have since done a back handspring up this week – which is what I fell doing – and was able to do that pretty easily, which is good because that means that I don’t have a mental block.
“I’ve had a medical professional with me just in case anything happens. I’ve been checking in with them every other day or so.
I’ve said it a billon times already but I’m very, very lucky. Not many people come back from an accident like this this quick
Corey Marten
“I was a little afraid. I think I was more afraid of it hurting while I was trying to do it than I was about it happening again. To me it was such an off thing, I thought it was a freak accident.
“I didn’t feel like it would ever happen again, but I wasn’t sure how I would feel going upside down.
“I did a couple [back handspring ups] just on the floor, without doing it in the stunt, and after that first few on the floor I felt fully comfortable doing it again and I was able to just jump in and try it.”
Corey, who also has a degree in athletic training, said: “I didn’t want it to cause a mental block. I used to be a coach and I’ve always had kids try again if they were hurt, or fell or got scared, so they didn’t go back into it with that same mindset.
“Obviously I wasn’t able to try it again straight after until I was cleared [by my doctors], but I tried to get back into it again as soon as possible so I wouldn’t have that block holding me back.
“I have a lot of goals that I want to reach and I don’t want this to be something that stops me from reaching those.
“I’ve said it a billon times already but I’m very, very lucky. Not many people come back from an accident like this this quick.”
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