Super-fit Missouri dad, 35, suffers three strokes after turning head too ... trends now
A Missouri father-of-four claims he is lucky to be alive after suffering three strokes when he turned his neck too quickly while playing sports.
Joel Hentrich, 35, from Festus, was playing pickleball with friends on a Wednesday night in November when he felt a 'pop' in his neck as he turned to track the ball.
His vision immediately blurred, and he collapsed on the court and projectile vomited before a tingling sensation swept across his face, hand and legs.
Mr Hentrich, a nurse, was rushed to hospital by friends and admitted to intensive care for scans which showed he had torn an artery in his neck and suffered three strokes in the lower part of his brain.
Joel Hentrich, 35, (left) from Festus in Missouri, was playing pickleball with friends on Wednesday night late in November when he suddenly felt a 'pop' in his neck. His vision went blurry, he collapsed and started to vomit. Friends drove the father-of-four to hospital. He is shown above with brother Zachary, 29, after winning a medal at a pickleball tournament
He was asked to wait two hours in the hospital before medics activated the stroke protocol and rushed him to intensive care. MRI and CT scans revealed he had severed one of four main arteries in his neck and suffered three small strokes in the lower area of his brain. He is pictured above in the hospital's intensive care unit with (from left to right) eldest daughter Madelynne, 8, his father Gerard Hentrich, 65, and children Nikolai, 18 months, Liliya, 6, and Elijah, 3
Doctors revealed he had suffered cerebellar strokes — when the blood supply is cut off from the cerebellum, a part of the brain located at the back of the organ that helps maintain balance.
It was deprived of blood and oxygen when he severed an artery — the left internal vertebral artery — which helps supply the area. It is one of four main arteries that run through the neck to the brain.
Mr Hentrich ended up spending two days in hospital, where doctors monitored him to assess his brain damage.
Despite the accident, he has already returned to pickleball saying it is 'one of my passions' and that he does not want to 'live in fear'.
Mr Hentrich said: 'Turning my head quickly was something I've done a million times.
'I went out there that day and was just playing a regular game, nothing strenuous.
'I was just having fun and just turned my head quickly to the left to try and track a ball.
'I felt a pop in the back of my neck. I wasn't sure if anyone else could hear it but internally I could.'
The father-of-four feared that if he had been left longer without treatment he could have lost his life, or the ability to walk. But after two days in hospital staying in bed, doctors found he was able to walk to the bathroom a few feet away. The walk to the bathroom is shown above
He added: 'Immediately, my vision changed and I had the worst vertigo I've ever experienced in my life.
'About two minutes after it happened I was having to be helped over to the bench with support because I couldn't stand on my own at all.
'The ground went out from underneath me and I ended up with extreme nausea and I was projectile vomiting. There was tingling on the left side of my face, hand and part of my leg.
'My world was spinning, literally and figuratively but I trusted my instincts as all the different signs together pointed to something pretty serious.'
Mr Hentrich's friends called an ambulance but when medics arrived they 'didn't seem too concerned', because his symptoms didn't suggest a stroke.
Two friends then drove Mr Hentrich to hospital, where he was asked to wait two hours in the emergency room with about 50 to 60 other people.
When he was eventually seen, nurses rapidly activated the stroke protocol, carted him off to intensive care and whipped him through for brain scans within minutes.
Mr Hentrich expected to be told that he had suffered a
