A woman who fell 25 feet head first from a window and broke her neck instantly was told by doctors she "should be dead". But Flora Macdonald walked away without paralysis or brain damage and now believes she was "used (up her) nine lives".
Flora, 24, was sat by an open first-floor window in a friend's flat in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in the early hours of September 11 when she fell. She hit her head on railings 25ft below, instantly breaking her neck, before falling another 5ft into a concrete ditch.
She started to panic when she noticed her head was bleeding but was helped by residents of the basement flat - who initially thought there had been a car crash after hearing the bang of her fall. Still fully conscious, Flora was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
She had a full body MRI, a CT scan of her head and x-rays of her spine, right arm, wrist and knee. She was then told she had five broken vertebrae in her neck and was lucky not to be paralysed.
Flora, from Cheltenham, said: "I remember everything in impeccable detail. The only haziness I have of the incident was in the ambulance after they've gave me some meds for the pain.
"As I was discharged the consultant said I should be dead, and they said they’ve never seen the C1 or C2 bones broken that way without paralysis. The ward I was in was incredible.
"They were so structured and didn’t care about the accident. I wasn’t drunk or anything but even if I had been they didn’t care, they just wanted to help."
Flora spent the first 12 hours in A&E before being transferred to the orthopaedic ward for a week. She was off work for six weeks wearing a neck brace 24 hours a day and went for weekly neck washes at the hospital because she wasn't allowed to remove the brace.
After starting her new job on October 24 as an assistant business manager, Flora assumed the pain in her lower back was due to her recovery. But just last week she found out that her lower spine had also broken.
Amazingly, Flora did not require surgery after the fall. "I don't know how I've come out in one piece," she said.
The memories of the fall remain strong, though, and Flora says she has experienced PTSD symptoms. "I can't explain what that falling feeling is like," she said.
"I don't know if it was in slow motion, whether I was accepting death, I don't know what it was. It was bizarre."
Now she has vowed to take better care of herself, saying: "If this had happened six months ago when I was in a different head space, I would have been a mess and would have had more wobbles.
"But it's made me appreciate myself more and how amazing my body has been. In a sense I’ve used my nine lives so I need to look after my body a bit more."
Flora is keen to thank the NHS for the expert care provided and is planning to shave her head on November 30 in an effort to raise money for the hospital's charity. She has already smashed her £200 goal - with her fundraising efforts currently sitting at £520.
Flora said: "That's why I want to raise money with shaving my hair, to give something back. I also wanted to have that Britney moment.
"It's one of those cases where I could have had brain damage or internal bleeding and when you're in those moments they really have it on lock and know what they're doing. When you have those life-threatening emergencies, they are really on it.
"One of the nurses has popped in to see me in work and we have a really good relationship. They were so amazing on the ward and they're just like a family with me now."
