A nurse left in ‘excruciating pain’ after landing on her head while performing a somersault was dismissed by doctors—who completely missed that she had fractured her spine.
It was only after Brooke Bowen, 21, got so fed up of having her concerns repeatedly shrugged off and she sought a private opinion that she discovered the seriousness of her injuries, which she says could leave her paralysed.
The saga began on April 22 of this year when Ms Bowen, of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, attended a gym class with her friend after their cheerleading practice was cancelled.
The paediatric nurse attempted a somersault into the establishment’s foam pit—a trick she said she had done 100 times before.
But despite her extensive experience, she landed on her head, hitting the hard floor below, as seen in video footage.
Recalling what happened, she said: ‘I got upside down and I knew I wasn’t going to make it round and fell down on my head… It was the worst pain in the world.’
Immediately, she experienced excruciating shooting pains in her neck and back, so she took some painkillers.
And when the pain worsened overnight, she went to the A&E department in the nearby Pinderfields Hospital to get checked out.
The nurse, Brooke Bowen, right before attempting the somersault (left) and landing head first in the foam pit (right)
The nurse went to the gym where she did the trick after her cheerleading class was cancelled
But, sadly, Brooke claims that despite showing the staff the video and explaining how severe her pain was, she was told it wasn’t ‘traumatic enough’ to require a surgery.
On her experience at the hospital, she said: ‘I’m a nurse so I told them I couldn’t go to work in this kind of pain.
‘In the end they ended up doing an x-ray as I fought for it, but they said it was fine, and they sent me home.’
After the hospital sent her home, Ms Bowen said she spent two months going back and forth to her GP for pain medication.
‘I feel like I wasn’t initially listened too. I’ve been in work and have still gone to cheerleading since the injury as I didn’t know I had the injury,’ she said
It wasn’t until she reached out for a private medical scan through her insurance that she discovered on June 20, that she had fractured her spine in two places.
This was in the third (C3) and fourth (C4) cervical vertebrae, which are both located in the neck.
‘They said they were stable fractures but if I started to get these certain symptoms I needed to get medical attention,’ she said.
The nurse before she fractured her spine in two places (left) and after in the hospital (left)
She was also later told she had spinal injuries to her C5 and C6, with bruising that was compressing.
Just two days later, she woke up with pins and needles in her legs as well as cramping in her arm and she was admitted to hospital for 10 days.
‘I could still walk but I couldn’t go to the toilet. I just thought the worst and thought I was going to be paralaysed.’
In the hospital in June, she says doctors there told her the symptoms were ‘all in her head’.
And while there, she said: ‘I woke up one day and I couldn’t really feel my legs and when I tried to walk, they were really wobbly.’
She added: ‘Since then I have had left sided weakness in my arm and leg and my legs hardly got any power.’
Now, back at home, she struggles to walk and claims she is at risk of becoming paralysed in the next couple of years due to the injury.
She believes that if the hospital hadn’t missed her pain in April, she may not be facing such severe long-term effects from her injury.
Now she has to attend hydrotherapy for six weeks and use a wheelchair to leave the house
Since being discharged from hospital, she has to attend hydrotherapy sessions for six weeks and use a wheelchair to leave the house.
Although she has been told her fractures ‘will just heal’ Ms Bowen said she was also told her injury also affected the C5 and C6, with bruising that’s compressing.
‘The consultant on Monday said I could lose all my ability [in my legs] or I could get it all back and just need to learn to live my life like this.
‘It is scary to think that one day I could be paralysed,’ she added. ‘As it’s been so long, I think my injury is worse now as it didn’t get treated initially.
‘I’ll always think that if I was treated at the start I wouldn’t be in this position now.’
Dr Mark Freeman, deputy chief medical officer at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust said: ‘We pride ourselves on providing the best possible care to our patients.’
He added: ‘We are sorry to hear Brooke is not happy with the care we provided to her on this occasion.
‘If Brooke would like to contact the Trust we would be happy to meet with her and discuss this in more detail.’
