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A paramedic who routinely fractures his joints was partially paralyzed at just 23 years old. A crack in the neck caused a stroke by breaking a large artery in the spine.
Natalie Kunicki, who works for the London Ambulance Service (LAS), was watching movies in bed with her friend after a March 4 evening, when she stretched her neck and heard a loud "crunch".
The young paramedic did not think about anything and fell asleep, but when she did not wake up until 15 minutes later, she could not move her left leg and fell to the floor trying to walk.
In the early hours of March 5, Natalie was rushed to hospital in an ambulance where a CT scan confirmed that she had suffered a stroke.
While her neck had cracked, Natalie's vertebral artery – a major artery of the neck – had burst, causing the formation of a blood clot in her brain and triggering a stroke. .
Natalie and her best friend, Evie Chalwell, at the hospital. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Daily exercises helped Natalie find enough movement in her leg, arm and hand to be sent home to her parents in Harrow, London, on March 28th.
She is now speaking to alert people to the risks of joint cracking and to inform them that stroke can affect you, no matter what your age.
Natalie, who left Canberra, Australia, to join LAS in December 2017, said, "People need to know that even if you're young, something as simple can cause a stroke. I was not even trying to break my neck I just moved in and it happened.
"I am a paramedic and I did not call 999 for 10 minutes because I thought it was too unlikely that it was a stroke while I should have known a lot better. Every minute, many of your brain cells die, never neglect a stroke just because someone is young.
Natalie is now talking to warn others. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
"People need to be more attentive when they are doing chiropractic exercises or weights at the gym.I was in bed looking at things with a friend when they are in bed. arrived.
"I was spreading my neck and I could hear that" crunching, crunching, crunching. "My friend asked me," Is that your neck? "but all my joints crack a little and I did not think about anything anymore.
"I fell asleep and when I woke up about 15 minutes later I wanted to go to the bathroom but I could feel that leg in bed and I was asking my friend if he could move his leg.
"He told me it was my leg, but I was a little intoxicated so I was not taking anything seriously and I just thought it's a little weird & # 39; 39. I got up and tried to go to the bathroom and I was swinging around, realized that I was not moving my left leg at all, and then I fell on the ground. "
Natalie did her training as a nurse in Canberra, Australia. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
However, when Natalie was told that it was actually a stroke, the diagnosis had spotted her. She explained: "When the consultant announced me that I had a stroke, I was shocked.
"The doctors told me later that it was only the stretching of my neck that had caused the rupture of my spinal artery.This was spontaneous and there was a chance on a million that happen.
"I do not smoke, I do not drink really, I do not have a family history of strokes, so it's pretty strange that it happened while I was moving in bed.
"I was in shock for about three days in the intensive care unit, I was a bit like a wet blanket, I did not say much and I did not get it. engaged with no one, I had no sense of humor.
"I was completely cut off, trying to calculate what had happened.People said that I was a bit of a robot and that I did not show much emotion.
Natalie's friend came out of the "Feast of Mercy". Credit: Kennedy News and Media
"But some friends from the ambulance have said," You have a week from the day of your stroke to escape, otherwise we will break you down. "
"I was able to organize my little pity party for a week, but that's all." They said, "What is done is done now: work and do all the exercises. "
"They were fantastic and they came and did all the exercises with me, I think if I did not have them, I'd have been in my pity party a little longer, but instead, I'd have it. broke all the goals of the therapy.
"I love my job and want to come back to it.I'm so used to being busy and now, I feel like climbing some walls a bit.I definitely want to go back to work as soon as I can. "
Natalie wants to get back to work. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Natalie continued: "I was trying to call 999 but I was muddling in. There was a great chance that the crew that was coming up would be my friend and I did not want that. they see me intoxicated.I was trying to go back to sleep but I could not, so I called 999 and I did not recognize the crew that came up .
"I think that at first I looked like they thought I was only a 23-year-old classic drunk man, but I told them that I was a paramedic and that I knew something was wrong.
"They took my blood pressure and my heart rate and they were both very high.Then they did this test where they held their finger in the air and you had to touch your nose and then their finger. My hand went everywhere and I was thinking 'oh no'. I knew something was happening. "
The ambulance crew drove Natalie to University College London Hospital, where tests confirmed she had a stroke and she would need emergency surgery.
Natalie knew that there was something wrong when paramedics started doing tests. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
After being enlightened at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Natalie underwent a three-hour surgery during which the doctors discovered her artery exploded.
Although surgeons were able to repair Natalie's artery with a stent, they could not clean the clot in her brain, but they believe that it will dissolve in time.
Natalie said, "I was expecting to wake up from this miraculous operation and everything would be resolved, but my mobility was worse and they could not clean the clot.In the beginning I could not move my thumb and my index finger I could somehow move my wrist up and down, I could not lift my arm, I could bend my left leg but I could not wiggle my toes.
"The doctors were doing tests – I had to close my eyes and touch the left side but I could not tell where they were touching, it was like when you have a very bad sunburn and your skin is burning. bottom of my left side.
"I think I scared my consultant because after I woke she came to ask how I was going, but I told her:" You should have killed me. " is very common after a stroke because you lose so much independence and dignity.
Natalie was flooded with support. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
"I had to call in a nurse to help me shower in a wheelchair." What a 23-year-old man needs someone to help him wash himself and to wash her hair? It was a bit surreal. "
Now that she has regained movement and sensations, Natalie feels "much better" and feels that her recovery has only accelerated since her return home.
Doctors can not give an exact time for a full recovery, but Natalie hopes to be back to work for "light tasks" in six to twelve months.
Natalie said, "At first I was afraid of being released because my parents' house had many stairs and I did not know how I would manage, but everything went well. I found the movement on the left side. I can walk, but not more than five minutes, I'm really clumsy, I can not create buttons, I find it too difficult, I can get hot and cold now but I always feel a little numb.
"Being released and at my parents' house certainly helps me recover because I had to do things for myself, I have to dress, make bed and I can go for a cup of tea." do something really good but it's slow.
"It was strange to be on the other side, but the paramedics who came to see me were great, they did a perfect job, they even stayed with me to hold my hand while I waited for my parents and gave me the blue light. " another hospital for my surgery, even though their shift was over. "
Natalie is now trying to educate young people about stokes. Credit: Kennedy News and Media
In addition to her commitment to LAS, Natalie is committed to increasing youth awareness of stroke.
Natalie said, "We've called so many people who have had a stroke, and they're still between the ages of 70 and 80. I've never been to a young stroke patient, mine was one in a million, but a broken vertebral artery is actually a fairly common cause of stroke in young people.
"They go to the gym or do something quite physical and it happens." Strokes are also quite common among children, which was a shock to me. I would have an idea but I did not even know it.Normally if you are called to a young person, you would not test for a stroke. "
Natalie lives with her parents, Peter, 65, and Anne, 62, but they have to return to Australia in July. Fortunately, Natalie's 33-year-old brother, Michael, has created a fundraising page to find the funds to help her sister stay in London and keep her job.
Natalie said: "When I woke up after the operation, my brother said that he had created a fundraising page and that all my friends and colleagues have Eighty percent of the donations come from people I work with, which is so important – it's going to be so helpful.
"I really want to go back to my own apartment and I really do not want to go back to Australia, I love my job too much and I do not want to leave them."
To donate to Natalie's gofundme page, click here.
Image credit: Kennedy News and Media
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