Miracle as doctors reattach skull of 'internally decapitated' woman after freak football injury

12 April 2025, 20:42

Megan King
Megan King. Picture: Social media

By Kit Heren

A woman had her skull reattached to her spine after being 'internally decapitated' in a freak football injury.

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Megan King fell to the ground when playing football in 2005 when she was just 16, damaging her spine and tearing her shoulder muscles.

Despite dozens of surgeries to fix her issues, her condition continued to decline - leaving doctors scratching their heads.

Ms King was left in agony as her muscles began to tear apart and her joints weakened.

A decade after her original injury, doctors diagnosed her with hypermobile Ehler 's-Danlos syndrome (hEDS).

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That is a rare condition that prevents the formation of collagen, which helps bones stay together.

Surgeons fitted her with her a halo brace drilled directly into her skull.

But her problems got even worse during the operation, as her skull became internally detached from her skull.

Ms King told Mail Online: "I flew my chair back to keep gravity from decapitating me.

"My neurosurgeon had to hold my skull in place with his hands. I couldn't stand. My right side was shaking uncontrollably."

Doctors raced to keep her alive, working through 37 painful surgeries to fuse her skull to her spine.

Now she cannot move her spine "at all", describing herself as "literally a human statue".

"But that doesn't mean I've stopped living," Ms King added.

She has since even been able to get a job.

Ms King added: "I'm grateful for God, my body, my doctors, my family, my friends, my online community & more. I'm proud of all the hard work I put in to get to this point. God is so good".

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