A young woman has been left with life-changing injuries after a routine visit to her chiropractor.
As reported by news.com.au, Caitlin Jensen - a recent graduate of Georgia Southern University - attended her appointment for a simple chiropractic adjustment back on June 16.
However, her family says the routine visit left her fighting for her life, after Caitlin suffered four dissected arteries in her neck.
The devastating injuries resulted in Jensen fighting through a cardiac arrest and stroke. She had to be revived after losing her pulse for 10 minutes, according to her mom.
After being rushed to the Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, Jensen received a life-saving operation where surgeons were able to repair some of the damage caused to the arteries and insert a stent.
Still in a critical condition, Jensen is now in the neuro ICU, mom Darlene set up a GoFundMe for her daughter.
With her doctors diagnosing her Caitlin with a "traumatic brain injury", the GoFundMe states: "Caitlin is currently conscious and able to respond to verbal commands by blinking her eyes, as well as wiggling her the toes of her left foot.
"However, the rest of her body sits in a state of paralysis due to the injury.
"Caitlin has a long road to recovery, and as a college student who has a very simple health care plan, she will need significant financial resources to get her through this road to recovery. We ask that you please flood Caitlin with your prayers and positive energy and consider donating to this cause."
As of this writing, more than $22,000 has been raised of the $100,000 target.
Darlene has taken to Facebook to give daily updates on her daughter's condition, revealing on Saturday: "[Caitlin] gave her best effort to smile today, and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
"She is progressing with her movements on the left side – wiggling and flexing. She can’t lift her arm yet, or turn her head. Her right side is unchanged – still no movement.
"Her face doesn’t move very much yet, but she can open her eyes widely to show surprise, and the left corner of her mouth tries to smile. Adorable."
The doting mom added: "Still working on the pneumonia. The antiplatelet therapy seems to be going OK. We don’t see any signs of internal bleeding and are praying that it stays that way."
Officials from the Georgia Southern University Department of Biology also paid tribute to their former student, writing on Facebook:
"We are devastated to hear about injuries last week to one of our recent alumna. Caitlin Jensen graduated last month with a degree in Chemistry and Biology. She was active in the Biology Department on both our campuses.
"Last week during chiropractic care, Caitlin suffered dissected arteries in her neck. This damage led to cardiac arrest, a stroke, as well as a loss of pulse for over 10 minutes. Caitlin is now in the ICU at Memorial Hospital in Savannah. She is conscious and able to respond to verbal commands by blinking her eyes and wiggling the toes of her left foot. The rest of her body is in a state of paralysis.
"Caitlin has a long road to recovery, and as a college student who has a modest health care plan, she will need significant financial resources. Please consider making a donation to her care."
Per TIME, chiropractic treatment and spinal manipulation is generally considered safe, with it offering pain relief to many.
Speaking to TIME about the risk of conditions such as a stroke from chiropractic treatment, neurologist and chiropractor Dr. Scott Haldeman said: "Neck pain can be a sign of a stroke in process."
"So people may go see a doctor or chiropractor about that pain and then associate the subsequent stroke with their visit," he added. Haldeman's own research into artery tears also reported just 23 such cases among more then 134 million chiropractic manipulations.
Dr. Eric Hurwitz of the University of Hawaii also stated that severe reactions from chiropractic treatments are "very rare," with most patients never experiencing any adverse event.
"But we can’t predict who will or won’t experience an adverse event," Haldeman says. "There’s some risk involved. But there’s also risk from surgery or from taking medications."
We wish Caitlin the very best on her road to recovery.
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