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A sneeze broke this woman’s neck. Twice.

Picture:
Picture:
Monique Jeffrey/GoFundMe

In 2011, Monique Jeffrey sneezed.

When she did, while lying in bed on her phone, she sneezed and her neck jolted forward.

Her C1 and C2 vertebrae collapsed and her chin fell onto her shoulder.

She, realising she couldn't move her neck and texted her husband for help. She answered the return call on speaker and he arrived shortly before an ambulance.

She was placed in a neck traction, a device that immobilises the neck muscles for healing, for 14 weeks.

She made a full recovery.

Picture:Picture: Monique Jeffrey/GoFundMe

Three weeks ago, she injured her neck for a second time.

She told News.com.au:

I was at work and I had a bit of a stiff neck. Nothing awful, it was just a little bit sore.

I was actually joking around with some colleagues because they were making some inappropriate jokes about how I may have hurt my neck, and I threw my head back and did it again.

Picture:Picture: Monique Jeffrey/GoFundMe

It wasn’t as bad as the last time. I shuffled back to my desk and I said to one of my colleagues ‘I’m in trouble here, ‘I think I’ve done my neck again’, because it felt the same and I was stuck.

My chin was pulled across to the right, so they called an ambulance and now I’m in a neck halo.

Monique will undergo rehab for months after the halo is removed, and physiotherapy to strengthen her neck muscles. She may require surgery to fuse the C1 and C2 vetebrae to prevent collapse.

Her sister set up a fundraising page to combat growing medical costs.

Her fundraising page has raised $8,025 from 91 people in 22 days, surpassing her $8,000 target.

Monique said:

It’s not terminal, I’m going to be fine, but it does suck a bit. You just have to laugh about it.

HT News.com.au

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