A mother who took up gymnastics to find herself outside of motherhood broke her spine when a diving roll in her first class went horribly wrong. Sophia Landells, 36, attended an adults' gymnastics class on the evening of September 1 to push herself out of her comfort zone.
The mum-of-two said she was trying to prioritise herself, as she claims many mothers don't, and wanted to find a fun hobby just for her. But as she jumped into a diving roll, she heard a crunch as the top of her head hit the sprung floor instead of the padded crash mat below.
Cheering turned to silence
At first, everyone in the class cheered as they thought she had landed the trick. But when 4ft 11in Sophia found herself completely unable to move, 999 was called and she was rushed to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
At this point, the self-employed photographer said it hurt to breathe and she felt like she had crunched her shoulders down into her torso. After being given pain relief at the hospital, a doctor confirmed that Sophia had broken her T2 and T3 vertebrae and needed emergency surgery.
Emergency surgery and recovery
She was strapped to a neck brace and full board in the hospital bed and went under the knife on September 4, where metal rods were put into her back to hold it in place. Sophia is currently still recovering from surgery in hospital and will then be moved to another facility to start her full rehab programme.
Sophia, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said: "It [the gym class] was something out of my comfort zone. It was all about me not being mum and being brave and making my own identity and friends."
"I was trying to embrace the whole 'you only live once' mentality and just because you're a mum doesn't mean you can't do something fun and adventurous and be more than just a mum."
Urging mums to keep trying new things
Despite what has happened, Sophia does not want the takeaway from her accident to be for mums not to go out and try new things. She says as soon as she's able to, she will find another hobby to enjoy but will not be returning to gymnastics.
One of her friends has set up a GoFundMe page to support Sophia and her family financially through this difficult time. Sophia said: "I tried to do a good thing as a mum and then a really bad thing happened as a result of that.
"But I don't want the takeaway to be 'mums stay home and don't have a life' as I know that isn't true. I know I will get back out there and I will try something different, it just won't be gymnastics. The last thing I want people to take from this is, 'this is why we [mums] should stay at home'. It's really important that this isn't the message as I don't believe this."
"Mums should still be trying new things and prioritising themselves. If the worst does happen, I then want mums to be willing to accept the help as I think we're really bad at this. If you need help, just ask."
