A Dutch professional trampolinist narrowly escaped paralysis after a horrorific training accident left him with a broken back.
Footage shared on TikTok and Instagram by @flips.by_Siard shows the agonising moment his back ‘folded’ as he hit the trampoline sooner than anticipated.
But the athlete, who boasts thousands of social media followers, miraculously did not permanently injure his spinal cord.
Instead, he escaped with a vertabrae fracture — which often heal naturally — and in a shock to fans has already bounced back training again.
In a separate Instagram video from a US neurosurgeon, known only as Dr Z, the medic warned such injuries could result in ruptured blood vessels or even total paralysis.
Footage shared on TikTok and Instagram by @flips.by_Siard shows the agonising moment his back ‘folded’ as he hit the trampoline sooner than anticipated
In a separate Instagram video from a US neurosurgeon, known only as Dr Z, the medic warned such injuries could result in ruptured blood vessels or even total paralysis
He told his 200,000 plus Instagram followers: ‘He is gaining a lot of height. These are professionals that have been doing this for several years.
‘But there’s always a risk of injury just like this.
‘What happened in this situation is something called hyper extension injury.
‘It looks like he almost folded his entire self in half. This is the type of injury that could potentially result in a spinal cord injury.’
Around two-thirds of people with a spinal cord injury will experience some form of paralysis as a result, studies show.
But Dr Z added: ‘It turns out he broke his back and did not injure his spinal cord.
‘He fractured his vertebrae without injuring his spinal cord.’
A vertebral fracture is a break to one of the bones in your spine.
In the majority of people spinal fractures heal without complication and do not require any specific intervention, according to the NHS.
However, ‘not just anybody can walk away from an injury like this,’ Dr Z warned.
‘If a fracture is bad enough, it can result in something called an epidural hematoma where blood compresses the spinal cord.
‘You could require surgery to decompress that cord.
‘It might also destabilize the spine resulting in the need for a spinal fusion where we put metal screws and rods permanently in your back.’
The condition, spinal epidural hematoma, is triggered when a blood vessel ruptures, causing blood to leak into the epidural space — a gap between the spinal cord and spine bones — and clot.
This then exerts pressure on the spine, leading to problems with it transmitting signals to the rest of the body.
Patients initially face sudden neck or back pain, which then progresses to near or total paralysis of the legs or arms — depending where the clot is.
In the majority of people spinal fractures heal without complication and do not require any specific intervention, according to the NHS . However, ‘not just anybody can walk away from an injury like this,’ Dr Z warned
Doctors treat spinal epidural hematoma using surgery to remove the clot and restore normal spinal function.
However, if they don’t act quickly patients can suffer a spinal stroke, when the blood supply is cut off from the spinal cord leading cells to start to die.
This causes permanent damage.
There is no known cause for the condition, although it may be triggered by trauma, an underlying condition or even lifting too heavy weights in the gym.
But medics have long underlined that it is extremely rare, with less than one person per million reportedly suffering it annually.
Fractures, meanwhile, are most common in the spine, as the make-up of the bones here, with a thin outer layer and spongy interior, makes them more vulnerable to bone loss.
According to the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), around 600 Brits sustain acute traumatic injuries to the spinal cord every year.
About five times as many people will suffer a spinal fracture or dislocation.
