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side-note.comFor all its glittering holier-than-thou veneer, Shannan Click is one patient who has seen the dark side of health’s new golden child. A successful model who has walked the coveted Victoria’s Secret runway and whose ethereal poise has commanded campaigns for the likes of Armani and Cartier, Click recently shot with Pierre Toussaint for the first time since a harrowing ordeal left her perilously close to permanent brain damage. A ‘mom’ of two and keen yogi, Click had been experiencing persistent neck pain and, hoping to remedy it naturally, opted to heed the advice of a friend and pay a visit to a renowned pain relief centre in downtown Beverly Hills. Upon entering she was met by her chiropractor, who at first impression, appeared more used car salesman than medical professional, telling her ‘the massage from our day spa is an absolute must..’Bemused but not discouraged, Click trusted the process. This was no dive after all, hell, the establishment’s glitzy website flaunted testimonials from the likes of Paris Hilton and Quentin Tarantino (side-note: this is Hollywood). With one swift manipulation of the neck, Click’s vision became blurred, she was dizzy and lost control of her right eye. Heart leaping from her chest, she alerted her manipulator that something wasn’t right. The chiropractor’s first response? A Google search (“brain damage”). Shortly thereafter, Click was scuttled out the back entrance wherein a clumsy parade of the offending chiropractor’s specialist cronies ensued, each as clueless as the next. Finally, Click’s boyfriend, Boardwalk Empire star and nephew of Angelica Huston no less, Jack Huston came to the rescue, rushing her to Cedars-Sinai where it was confirmed she was in the throes of a stroke. A stroke is where the blood supply to the brain is interrupted and there is a four hour window where patients can be given Alteplase IV r-tPA to dissolve the clot before permanent brain damage takes hold. Click received this life-saving dose within a matter of minutes of that deadline.
It turns out the resounding crack of Click’s neck was the dissection of a cervical artery (a.k.a a torn artery) which precipitated the stroke. A similar sequence of events spelled a tragic ending for Playboy model Katie May who sustained a fatal injury in February 2016 from a neck manipulation. According to the Harvard Medical Journal these affect two in 100,000 people per year, but are also the most common cause of strokes in people under the age of 50. Hyperextension from chiropractic manipulation, weightlifting, yoga and even having your hair washed at the hairdresser are all known to have been triggers. While Click was fortunate to suffer no permanent physiological damage, the aftermath saw her experience panic attacks and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In a curious circle of events, in seeking natural pain relief, she was left in greater physical and emotional pain, and then prescribed heavy synthetic antidepressants and tranquilizers such as Lexapro and Xanax to cope with the trauma, with these medications only exacerbating her suffering. Ultimately, Click took her healing into her own hands turning to meditation and mindfulness to navigate her symptoms which proved a far more potent remedy than the cocktail of prescriptions. A year on and from the rear-view mirror, Click’s paradigm shift is, at its heart, more positive than at first glance.
Armed with a new clarity, Click was able to see both the poetry, and the irony of her experience. The neck by design is our flaw; a life line that bridges the brain to the body, our weakest point and yet it exerts so much influence. In a fitting parallel, it was through Click’s period of vulnerability and distress that she gathered an unprecedented sense of strength and calm. On that fateful day, Click was seeking a realignment, but little did she know this bittersweet turning point would instead recalibrate her perspective, her priorities and, naturally, her life.