Camilla Jessen
Woman’s vision vanishes after neck crack.
KayLynne Felthager was driving home from Walmart when she felt a headache building. As she had done many times before, she stretched her neck to the right to release tension.
This time, she heard a crack followed by sudden, sharp pain.
The discomfort felt unusual but not alarming enough for her to seek medical help. Instead, she relied on over-the-counter pain medication and carried on.
The pain lingered for several days without improving, a sign she would later learn was significant.
Sudden warning signs
Five days later, Felthager was sitting in her kitchen doing her makeup before a date when her symptoms escalated. A bright flash appeared in front of her right eye, and her vision disappeared.
“It was just like I could see this bright light, but nothing else out of the right side,” she recalls.
After about 15 minutes, her vision returned. She dismissed it as a strange but isolated episode.
When speech failed
Soon afterward, Felthager felt tingling spread across the right side of her body, followed by numbness. The most alarming moment came when she tried to speak and could not form words.
Instead of normal speech, she produced what she later described as “jumbled gibberish.” Recognising the seriousness, her husband immediately took her to the hospital.
Doctors performed a CT scan and confirmed she had suffered a stroke. When Felthager mentioned the neck pain that began after stretching days earlier, clinicians identified the cause.
A fragile area
Medical staff explained that cracking her neck had caused an artery dissection. This injury allowed a blood clot to form, which later travelled to her brain and triggered the stroke.
The clot dissolved on its own, meaning surgery was not required.
Felthager has since made a full recovery.
Doctors warn that the neck is an especially vulnerable area of the body. Even simple movements, including sudden turns or stretching, can in rare cases lead to serious complications such as stroke.
Sources: OddityCentral, PEOPLE
