I went to the chiropractor after suffering a gym injury… but a simple neck adjustment triggered deadly health emergency
A Missouri mother has revealed how her life was turned upside down after an outing at an indoor climbing gym and a subsequent chiropractic visit left her with a torn neck artery that led to five strokes.
Haley Schoen, 30, was climbing at an indoor gym with a friend in January 2019 when she jumped from roughly 15 feet off an indoor wall down to the crash mats, something she said she had done multiple times before.
Upon landing, she recalled feeling something that felt like a ‘pinched nerve’ in her neck, but she brushed it off as not a big deal.
A few days later, a coworker noticed she was ‘walking crooked,’ and Schoen had begun to experience numbness in one of her toes.
When the discomfort persisted, she visited a chiropractor, in hopes she could get an adjustment and fix her pinched nerve.
She said the practitioner performed several neck manipulations, and during the third one she felt an intense rush of pressure and warmth at the base of her skull, sensations she now realizes were warning signs of a torn artery and stroke.
Later that week, Schoen suddenly became emotional and disoriented at home, breaking down in tears for no apparent reason.
Alarmed, she went to the hospital, where imaging revealed a bilateral vertebral artery dissection, tears in both of the arteries that supple blood to her brain.
Doctors told her the injuries had already led to four strokes since she had fallen from the climbing wall and visited the chiropractor and she suffered a fifth while in the hospital.
Haley Schoen said she jumped down from a 15-foot rock climbing wall and quickly felt a ‘pinched nerve’ in her neck
In a bid to make the pain go away, Schoen visited a chiropractor. But during the treatment, she felt an intense rush of pressure and warmth at the base of her skull, sensations she now realizes were warning signs of a stroke
Schoen said she was stunned.
Doctors believe the first artery tear occurred when she jumped from the climbing wall, and the others likely happened during or shortly after the chiropractic manipulation.
The combined injuries disrupted blood flow and triggered strokes on both sides of her brain.
Schoen spent a week in hospital after the incident, relearning how to walk while being monitored around the clock.
Once discharged, she had to give herself daily blood-thinner injections for three months.
A tear in the artery creates an irregular surface where clots easily develop and these clots can travel to the brain, triggering additional strokes. Blood thinners are used to prevent new clots from forming.
Because of her stroke history, Schoen was barred from working and driving, ultimately losing her home and relocating to Missouri to restart her life.
She had been living what she described as a fast-paced, glamorous life in California working high-end real estate.
‘I went from doing photoshoots and selling multimillion-dollar homes to suddenly learning how to walk again,’ she explained, adding that the abrupt shift left her traumatized.
‘I lost everything. It felt like watching all my hard work disappear overnight.’
Doctors told her the injuries had led to four strokes since she had fallen from the climbing wall visited the chiropractor and she suffered a fifth while in the hospital
The fall and neck manipulations had disrupted blood flow and triggered strokes on both sides of her brain
Today, Schoen still struggles with depth perception, often misjudging distances and accidentally hitting her face on cabinets, and she said she becomes overwhelmed more easily than before.
She now shares her story on social media, including a TikTok video showing the moment she jumped off the climbing wall.
Her goal, she said, is to raise awareness about the risks of neck manipulation and encourage people to advocate for themselves during chiropractic care.
Medical experts say that high-velocity neck manipulations, often performed by chiropractors, can in rare cases injure the arteries that supply blood to the brain.
These injuries, known as vertebral artery dissections, occur when a tear forms in the artery wall.
Although the overall risk is low, neurologists have long cautioned that sudden neck rotation or forceful adjustments can stretch or damage these vessels.
Bilateral dissections like Major’s are exceptionally uncommon but significantly increase the likelihood of stroke.
Stroke remains a major public-health concern in the US, with roughly 800,000 cases each year.
It is consistently among the nation’s leading causes of death and disability.
Schoen spent a week in hospital, relearning how to walk while being monitored around the clock
Most strokes are ischemic, caused by a blood clot blocking blood flow to part of the brain. These clots can stem from artery dissections, hardened arteries, heart rhythm problems, or small-vessel disease.
Hemorrhagic strokes, caused by bleeding in the brain, account for a smaller but often more severe portion of cases.
Because a stroke can injure areas responsible for movement, speech, vision, memory, and emotional control, long-term consequences vary widely.
Treatment depends on the type and cause of the stroke, ranging from clot-dissolving medication and blood thinners to surgical procedures or intensive rehabilitation.
Following her ordeal, Schoen stressed that she is not opposed to chiropractic treatment in general, but she refuses neck adjustments and urges others to do the same.
Doctors, she noted, told her vertebral artery dissections are a known risk associated with such maneuvers.
‘Be responsible and speak up,’ she said. ‘If something doesn’t feel right, don’t let anyone touch your neck. It’s not worth the chance.’
