The brutal moment a 29 year-old cheerleader snapped her neck, breaking a bone in her spine, has been captured on camera.
Corey Martens, from Kentucky in the US, was performing a backflip when she suddenly ‘blacked out’, causing her head to ‘crunch’ on to the floor, instead of landing on a partner’s hands.
The terrifying ordeal happened during the American football game for Morehead State University, when Ms Martens stepped in last minute to perform in the halftime show.
The clip that captured the event shows her teammate perfectly executing the ‘back handspring up’ seconds before Ms Martens makes her own attempt.
Eye-watering footage shows this going diasterously wrong.
Ms Martens blamed losing consciousness at the ‘worst possible moment’ on not having eaten enough food and low iron levels.
The back handspring up is usually executed by the cheerleader thrusting their body back on to their hands and then jumping back on to 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.
‘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 put 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 Ms Martens, 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 her neck was and she was rushed for a CAT scan and X-rays.
‘After the x-rays they found out I had a non-displaced C5 [vertebrae] fracture,’ she says.
Corey Martens blacked out at the ‘worst moment’, causing her head to drop and bone in her upper spine to break.
Ms Martens came terrifyingly close to paralysis as a result of the injury. Thankfully she recovered with the help of a neck brace.
‘It was definitely worrying. They told me that because it was non-displaced, which basically meant that it wasn’t pushing on any of my nerves, and that’s why I wasn’t suffering from any neurological effects.’
Ms Martens was lucky to have narrowly escaped paralysis 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 paralysis and I was lucky that the break was far away from the nerves in that area.
‘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.
‘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.’
The horrific accident was captured on camera by her 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.
Ms Martens’ clip of the accident has attracted more than 700,000 views on TikTok.
‘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.
‘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.’
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.
‘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,’ she said.
‘I have since done a back handspring up this week — which I was doing when I fell —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.’
After sharing the video of the accident on TikTok, the clip went viral, racking up more than 737,000 likes, comments and views.
One user commented: ‘I’m so sorry! My daughter was dropped from full extension and landed on her head. she has cervical strain and a major concussion but got SO LUCKY. You poor thing.’
Another wrote: ‘This happening in front of that many people would have me transferring schools.’
A third said: ‘The look on the guys faces. I hope you’re doing ok!’ A fourth added: “Every star is allowed one fall. Get well soon.’
