Megan King, a 35-year-old Illinois woman, suffered a dramatic accident during gym class when she was only 16 years old. Needing crutches at the time, her condition didn't improve. The incident caused her body to deteriorate over time causing an internal decapitation years later. It forced doctors to reattach her skull to her spine.
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According to the Daily Mail, King suffered a serious fall after attempting to catch a ball in gym class in 2005. She suffered injuries to her right ankle and spine, with her muscles tearing from both her shoulder blades. King began using crutches for a year, but doctors were mystified by the fact that she wasn't healing.
In total, Megan King underwent 22 different surgeries only on her shoulders and shoulder blades. It was 10 years after her accident, in 2015, that doctors finally found out the reason behind her non-healing. King suffers from a condition called hypermobile Ehler's-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), an extremely rare condition that causes collagen to not form correctly. This explained the fragility of her joints.
In 2016, King suffered a dislocation and had to be fitted with a Halo brace. This device screwed directly to King's skull to prevent her neck from moving. When doctors removed the brace, however, her skull almost became detached from her spine. She had suffered an internal decapitation, also referred to as an atlanto-occipital dislocation.
"I flew my chair back to keep gravity from decapitating me," King told the outlet. "My neurosurgeon had to hold my skull in place with his hands. I couldn't stand. My right side was shaking uncontrollably."
Fusing Skull To Spine
Doctors performed emergency surgery on Megan King, fusing her skull to her spine. She described it as a "horror show" as she woke up to find out she was unable to move her head. Years after the incident, King has undergone a whopping 37 surgeries, with her spine being fused from her skull to her pelvis.
"I'm literally a human statue," King added. "My spine doesn't move at all. But that doesn't mean I've stopped living."
Megan King, after surviving an event that takes the life of nine out of 10 patients, continues to live life to the full. Despite her condition, she continues to attempt to regain the life that was taken away from her 20 years ago. In May 2020, she walked a mile alongside her dog, a feat she had been unable to perform since 2018. Recently, she even was able to bowl alongside her friends.
"I bowled a strike—on my very first try," King said. "My friends screamed and clapped and cheered like wild. They weren't just celebrating the strike. They were celebrating everything I've survived."
"I'm still learning what my new body can do," King concluded. "It's not easy, but I'm adapting. And I'm always surprised by what I can still accomplish."
