Overview

• Hayley Black says a forceful yawn in 2016 displaced her C6–C7 vertebrae, compressing her spinal cord and leaving her temporarily paralysed on the right side.
• Initial A&E scans reportedly showed no abnormality before further tests identified the injury, which doctors described to her as a freak incident.
• Surgeons performed an emergency discectomy and fusion after warning her family of roughly 50/50 odds of survival and of walking, and she woke with functions restored.
• Black recounts months in a wheelchair re-learning to walk, a tracheal scar, permanent nerve pain, a fibromyalgia diagnosis, and daily medication needs that limit work.
• She posted her story on TikTok on September 22 to raise awareness of hidden disabilities and to urge patients to advocate for themselves.