Megan King – from Illinois, United States – said she ‘turned into a human statue’ after a horror accident that changed her life and left her with a potentially deadly condition
A woman whose skull was virtually “internally decapitated” from her spine after a freak sports accident has had her head reattached by miracle surgeons. Megan King “turned into a human statue” after she fell to the ground while playing football in 2005 and faced decades of health struggles.
Megan, who was just 16 at the time, needed a staggering 37 operations after she jumped to catch a ball during a match and landed badly on September 21, 2005. Two decades after her horrific incident, doctors were able to reattached her spine and head in an incredible and rare surgery.
Her horror ordeal started when Megan, from Illinois in the US, injured her right ankle and spine while tearing the muscle off both her shoulder blades, when she fell. Megan spent more than a year on crutches but over the years her injuries worsened.
Megan’s joints weakened, her shoulder blades caused severe pain and her muscles started to tear. Despite going through dozens of operations, doctors were mystified as to why her body was not healing after all those years.
A decade after her horror fall, doctors were able to figure out what was behind her condition and diagnose her with hypermobile Ehler ‘s-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) in 2015. This rare genetic disorder that impacts the bodies ability to make collagen – a key joint tissue.
EDS and faulty collagen can lead to a large variety of symptoms including muscle tears, joint dislocation, heart issues and pooling blood. Megan previously said: “When collagen is faulty it can cause an array of symptoms because collagen is like the foundation to a house. If the foundation is weak the house can fall apart.”
A year later, her neck became dislocated and Megan had to be fitted with a Halo brace – a brutal metal device that screws directly into the skull to keep the neck and head upright. Megans situation went from bad to worse when the process to remove the contraption left her skull becoming nearly fully detached from her spine.
This rare, and potentially deadly condition, is called Atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD) and is also known as internal decapitation. Megan, now 35, recalled the terrifying moment to the MailOnline, and said: “I flew my chair back to keep gravity from decapitating me. My neurosurgeon had to hold my skull in place with his hands. I couldn’t stand. My right side was shaking uncontrollably.”
She was desperately hurried to an emergency room where doctors fused her skull back onto her spine. Megan said: “It was a horror show. I woke up unable to move my head at all.”
Megan is now unable to move her head from side to side as doctors since fused her bones from her head down to her pelvis. Although spinal fusions are not uncommon, only 10% of people worldwide have been fused from the skull to the pelvis.
She said: “I’m literally a human statue. My spine doesn’t move at all. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped living.” Megan shared she is slowly learning to do her favourite hobbies again – including a recent bowling trip.
Megan added: “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.”
