Hey all, as the title says, I broke my neck Saturday evening. I was chillin in my pool (swimming and diving). I decided to do a dive off my diving board, so I got up there and jumped off. The deep end is 11ft. deep, and the shallow end is 3 and a half or so. Anyway, I jumped off, hit the water and felt this snappy high pitch sound. I opened my eyes and thought "Man I hit the water hard". What I actually hit was the incline from the deep to the shallow end. I dove out instead of up/down and hit the top of my head on the bottom of the pool.
Right after I opened my eyes, I looked around and thought "I can't move. WTH is going on?" Survival instinct kicked right in. I was able to turn my body a little bit to figure out which way was up. I blew a few small bubbles and confirmed which way to go. Then I started kicking as hard as I could, which was about as hard as a five year old. I'm still on that incline, roughly 6 feet under water. I kicked and kicked.
Finally I was able to get my mouth above the water to get air. I went back down, then back up and yelled for help while taking a breath as well. This went on for what felt like forever, but was about 30 seconds. Apparently my "yell" was more like a whisper, according to my buddy Justin. He noticed me doing this "bobbing" and knew something was wrong (I'm a fish. aka great swimmer). He ran over and pulled me to the shallow end and sat me on the steps.
At this point is when i realized I could not move my arms or legs at all! I have no idea how I was able to get above the water, other than the "super human adrenaline" kind of thing. Anyways, I couldn't move any limbs. The ambulance was called and I was taken to the hospital.
They did all the tests and what not, and it turns out I broke the C2 vertebrae (sp?). I am VERY fortunate because where I broke it, there are two arteries, one on each side. Arteries didn't get touched, ligaments are good, and as you can tell, I have complete mobility back.
Now I have to wear this neck brace/collar for 8 weeks. I am very lucky and feel very blessed! Thought I would share this with ya'll and tell everyone, be careful when diving. Make sure you stay in the deep end!!! lol
Disclaimer: If it sounds weird or my typing is bad, it's because I'm all drugged up.
Right after I opened my eyes, I looked around and thought "I can't move. WTH is going on?" Survival instinct kicked right in. I was able to turn my body a little bit to figure out which way was up. I blew a few small bubbles and confirmed which way to go. Then I started kicking as hard as I could, which was about as hard as a five year old. I'm still on that incline, roughly 6 feet under water. I kicked and kicked.
Finally I was able to get my mouth above the water to get air. I went back down, then back up and yelled for help while taking a breath as well. This went on for what felt like forever, but was about 30 seconds. Apparently my "yell" was more like a whisper, according to my buddy Justin. He noticed me doing this "bobbing" and knew something was wrong (I'm a fish. aka great swimmer). He ran over and pulled me to the shallow end and sat me on the steps.
At this point is when i realized I could not move my arms or legs at all! I have no idea how I was able to get above the water, other than the "super human adrenaline" kind of thing. Anyways, I couldn't move any limbs. The ambulance was called and I was taken to the hospital.
They did all the tests and what not, and it turns out I broke the C2 vertebrae (sp?). I am VERY fortunate because where I broke it, there are two arteries, one on each side. Arteries didn't get touched, ligaments are good, and as you can tell, I have complete mobility back.
Now I have to wear this neck brace/collar for 8 weeks. I am very lucky and feel very blessed! Thought I would share this with ya'll and tell everyone, be careful when diving. Make sure you stay in the deep end!!! lol
Disclaimer: If it sounds weird or my typing is bad, it's because I'm all drugged up.
