The brutal moment a 29-year-old cheerleader broke her neck and broke a bone in her spine was caught on camera.
Corey Martens, from Kentucky in the US, was performing a backflip when she suddenly ‘blacked out’, causing her head to ‘smack’ the ground instead of landing on a partner’s hands.
The terrifying ordeal took place during the American football game for Morehead State University, when Ms Martens stepped in at the last minute to perform in the halftime show.
In the video capturing the event, her teammate can be seen executing the ‘back handspring up’ perfectly, seconds before Ms Martens makes her own attempt.
Dazzling images show this going disastrously wrong.
Ms Martens blames the loss of consciousness at the ‘worst possible time’ on not eating enough and low iron levels.
The back handspring is usually performed by the cheerleader pushing his body back onto his hands and then jumping back onto his feet, landing on his partner’s hands.
Instead of using her hands to push herself off the floor, Corey hit her head. She says she was “very lucky” not to be paralyzed after the horrific fall broke one of her vertebrae.
‘I wasn’t originally in it (the performance).
“But there were a number of people missing, either because of injuries or because they were out of town, so I ended up jumping in to do it.
‘When I went to throw the back handspring I blacked out, which we blamed on not having eaten enough food and having low iron levels.
‘The blackout only lasted a second, but it happened at the worst time.
“My feet didn’t leave the ground and I didn’t really jump, I just landed straight on my head.”
A call was made to 911 and Ms. Martens, who has been cheerleading since she was 12, was rushed by ambulance to St Claire Hospital, Morehead, Kentucky.
When she arrived at hospital, doctors were ‘unsure’ how serious the fracture in her neck was and she was rushed for a CAT scan and X-rays.
“After the X-rays, they found out I had a non-displaced C5 (vertebra) fracture,” she says.
Corey Martens blacked out at the ‘worst moment’, causing her head to drop and the bone in her upper back to break.
The injury brought Ms Martens frighteningly close to paralysis. Fortunately, she recovered with the help of a neck brace.
“It was certainly concerning. They told me that because it hadn’t moved, which basically meant it wasn’t pressing on any of my nerves, and therefore I wasn’t experiencing any neurological effects.”
Mrs Martens was fortunate to have narrowly escaped paralysis and was allowed to go home the same evening after only six hours in hospital.
The cheerleader, who works as a barista at Starbucks, said: ‘I’m very lucky because fractures between C4 and C6 (vertebrae) very often cause paralysis and I was lucky that the fracture was far away from the nerves in that area.
‘But they (the doctors) wanted to make sure I didn’t move it because I had also strained all the tendons and muscles around my neck and it was really painful.
‘They told me not to do my normal activities.
‘I could walk, but I had to leave the neck brace on 24/7 for two and a half weeks. I was allowed to take it off for a while – when I was showering or changing clothes – but I still wore it when I slept and wherever I went.
‘It was scary at first, but after the first week they (the doctors) weren’t worried about any neurological effects because if it hadn’t surfaced by then, it shouldn’t have happened again. Afterwards I felt a lot better about it.’
The horrific accident was captured on camera by her assistant coach. She admits that it was ‘painful’ to watch the images for the first time, but she dared to do so a day later.
Ms Martens’ video about the accident has been viewed more than 700,000 times on TikTok.
‘I was curious about what had happened. I didn’t know what it (the accident) looked like and where it went wrong. I knew I had blacked out and I felt it happening, but I didn’t know why I landed on my head.
‘The last I knew I was going for the backhand jump. I thought I would at least make it, but I didn’t.
‘It was painful to see it again, but I’m the type of person who makes jokes. Everything that happens, I make light of situations. So I had a bit of a laugh about it afterward.”
The cheerleader is determined not to let the accident hold her back.
Just a month after the fall, she has already returned to the sport, despite being ‘scared’ of attempting the move which left her injured again.
‘This week was my first week back. I’m still not allowed to do tumbling, pyramids, baskets or dismounts, but I can start doing stunts and see how I feel,” she said.
‘I’ve since done a back handspring this week – which is what I was doing when I fell – and I did that quite easily, which is good because it means I don’t have a mental block.
“I have a medical professional with me in case anything happens. I contacted them every other day.”
After the video of the accident was shared on TikTok, the clip went viral, with more than 737,000 likes, comments and views.
One user said: ‘I’m so sorry! My daughter fell from full extension and landed on her head. she has cervical strain and a major concussion but is SO LUCKY. You poor thing.”
Another wrote: ‘If this happens in front of so many people I would have to change schools.’
A third said: ‘The look on the boys’ faces. I hope you’re doing well!’ A fourth added: “Each star is allowed to fall once. Get better soon.”