A young paramedic's life was irrevocably changed by a simple, everyday movement after a night out, leading to a rare and devastating stroke that left her partially paralysed.
The Moment Everything Changed
On the 4th of March 2021, Natalie Kunicki, a 23-year-old paramedic with the London Ambulance Service, was relaxing in bed at her London home watching films with a friend. She stretched her neck and heard a distinct cracking sound. Accustomed to her joints cracking, she thought little of it and fell asleep.
Merely 15 minutes later, she awoke with a terrifying realisation: she could not move her left leg. Attempting to walk to the bathroom, she collapsed to the floor. "I looked down and realised I wasn't moving my left leg at all," she recounted. Initially attributing her symptoms to being tipsy or even drugged, the gravity of the situation soon became clear.
A Shocking Diagnosis and a Million-to-One Injury
In the early hours of March 5, Natalie was rushed to hospital. A CT scan delivered the shocking news: she had suffered a stroke. Medical staff explained that the neck stretch had caused a one-in-a-million event – a rupture of her vertebral artery.
This tear led to a blood clot forming in her brain, triggering the stroke which almost entirely paralysed her left side. "I wasn't even trying to crack my neck. I just moved and it happened," said Natalie, who had no typical stroke risk factors like smoking or a family history.
The Gruelling Road to Recovery
Natalie spent three days in intensive care in a state of emotional numbness. The turning point came when colleagues from the ambulance service delivered some tough love, giving her a week to have her "pity party" before demanding she focus fully on rehabilitation.
"They told me, 'what's done is done now, just work and do all the exercises'," she said. Through relentless daily exercises, she regained enough movement to be discharged to her parents' home in Harrow, London, on March 28.
A three-hour operation inserted a stent to repair the ruptured artery, but doctors could not remove the brain clot, expecting it to break down over time. The initial aftermath was bleak, with Natalie telling her consultant they "should have killed her" due to the loss of independence and dignity.
A Vital Warning to the Young and Healthy
Now speaking out, Natalie has a crucial message. "People need to know that even if you're young something this simple can cause a stroke," she warned. She also admitted that, despite her medical training, she delayed calling 999 for ten minutes, dismissing the likelihood of a stroke in someone so young.
She urges everyone to recognise the signs and act fast, regardless of age. "Every minute more of your brain cells are dying so don't ever discount a stroke just because someone is young," she emphasised. Her story highlights that a vertebral artery dissection is a relatively common cause of stroke in younger people, making awareness critical.
