A mum was nearly paralysed after tripping over her golden Labrador and falling down the stairs.
Bexx Hunt, 28, broke one of the vertebrae in her neck in the freak accident after waking up during the night to use the toilet.
She said she is ‘incredibly lucky’ as, if she had broken a different vertebrae, she would have suffered permanent paralysis.
‘It was just something you would never expect. I got up in the night to go to the loo and the next thing I was at the bottom of the stairs having taken a huge chunk out of the wall,’ she said.
‘I had fallen over Tequila [the dog] who was sleeping at the top of the stairs – she had no idea what was going on.’
Dad jailed for 24 years for battering toddler son, 2, to deathBexx, of Great Waldingfield, Suffolk, said she now must wear a halo neck brace screwed into her skull for the next three months to aid her recovery.
Her partner Neil Morby, 44, slept through the fall, despite her calling for help from the bottom of the stairs.
She somehow managed to get back up the stairs to bed, only realising the extent of her injuries the following morning.
The mum-of-one added: ‘I had no idea how badly I’d injured myself, it must have been the shock or the adrenaline that left me able to get back on my feet and back to bed.
‘It was only when I woke up that I felt my head stuck to the pillow. I tried to turn it to look at my partner but I just couldn’t move it.
‘It was like having a dead leg but it was my whole head.
‘I used my hands to move it to the side and heard a massive crunch, it was terrifying.’
Neil rang 999 and paramedics took his partner to hospital on September 30, the following morning.
Bexx, who works in sales, said: ‘I fractured by C2 vertebrae and apparently if it had been number 3, 4 or 5, I would have been paralysed.
‘It was very close.
‘I am incredibly lucky. The success rate of the halo is fantastic so I’m hoping that I shouldn’t need any further surgery or anything.’
She said she now faces a ‘long road to recovery’ building her muscles back up to strength, but said she places no blame on five-year-old Tequila.
‘I’m fairly sure she didn’t trip me up on purpose,’ Bexx said.
‘She doesn’t look like a killer – but she has looked a little sheepish since.
Sex predator's lawyer says 'you have the wrong man' and points to victim's dad‘To be honest, I think the wall ended up coming off worse than me, I left a huge dent in it.’
Now Bexx is fundraising for East of England Ambulance Service who helped her during her ordeal.
‘I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me.’
