What was initially a birthday holiday became a close brush with death for 25-year-old Londoner Becca Reed. Celebrating her 23rd birthday in Turkey on May 16, 2022, Becca was playing volleyball in a swimming pool. She jumped to catch the ball but struck her head on the concrete bottom of the pool.
At first, Becca thought the injury was superficial. “Following the crash, I lay in bed for days, on painkillers. I was foggy and lethargic. There was pain, but there was no swelling or damage. My muscles were really tense, like they were gripping my head,” she said. Figuring it was whiplash, she didn’t rush to see a doctor.
Details About her Surgeries
It wasn’t until May 19, upon her return to London, that she phoned NHS 111. She was told to go to the A&E ward at North Middlesex University Hospital. Scans and X-rays showed her C5 and C6 vertebrae in her neck had been shattered. Becca was taken to Royal London Hospital, where she had two major operations. Under the first, surgeons placed metal components to replace the broken vertebrae. The second operation entailed rods and screws to support her neck. “The second surgery hurt the worst because the muscles in my neck and back had to be severed,” Becca remembers.
Fitness was the Key
Surgeons were amazed that Becca survived the accident and attributed her recovery to her body’s strength. “I trained hard at the gym 5-6 times a week for two years, which served me well,” she said. Becca regularly trained at the gym, lifting weights, boxing, and skipping. Her muscles in her back and shoulders had become so strong that they kept her spinal cord from receiving deadly damage. “The surgeon said that Becca’s unusual muscles, built up through her weightlifting training, saved her life,” the report said.
As explained by the physicians, were it not for her fitness level, had another person been involved in the same accident, they would have likely been unable to walk or talk.
Although she had dislocated a knee ligament at the age of 17, Becca had never experienced anything as severe as this. She now reflects on her holiday in 2022 as the turning point in her life. “The jump went totally wrong. My hands didn’t even make it to the bottom, and my head landed first. I was swimming in the water, asking myself if I could move my legs,” she recalled.
