Trampoline injuries are more common than you may have expected, from broken bones to concussions. Even at trampoline parks where safety measures are put in place, serious injuries can take place and upend a person’s life. One teenager in Florida lived this horrendous reality at a trampoline park. Now, she understands the importance of letting others know how your life can change in the blink of an eye when you least expect it.
Elle (@ella.yona) is a spinal cord stroke survivor in Florida who shares her reality with those on her TikTok. The reality is that the day that changed everything for her started out like any other day for a teenager. She was sixteen years old and was invited to a trampoline park by a friend. She tells her social media this very important warning: “You’ll be invited to go to a trampoline park. It is VERY important you say no.”
In Elle’s video of the day that changed it all, she shares snapshots of her jumping around and having a blast at the trampoline park. In one video, she does a backflip into a pit of foam blocks. The next video shows her being removed from the area on a stretcher. She’s taken into a hospital, not moving a single muscle but fully aware of what’s happening around her.
Elle was having the time of her life when the most horrific thing happened to her. According to a GoFundMe raising money for her, she sustained an injury that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She allegedly suffered no fall or obvious injuries from doing flips on the trampoline. However, within 15 minutes, she had extreme back pain and lost feeling in her body. In no time, Elle lost all ability to even move her legs on her own. Doctors believe she may have suffered a spinal stroke but no matter how it happened, it happened at the trampoline park. Elle uses her TikTok as a way to show her progress and how she lives with her injuries. She is wheelchair bound but working on returning to everyday life as much as she can.
One commenter stated on Elle’s video, “I worked at a trampoline park. I’ll never set foot in one again. The injuries I’ve seen have traumatized me for life.” Another commented, “Something so simple… Results were devastating!” When I was younger, my parents never allowed my siblings and I to have a trampoline at our house. They warned they were too dangerous. I guess there’s some truth in that. In the blink of an eye, anything can change.
