From Spinal Cord Compression to Walking Again: Anita’s Cervical Spine Surgery Story with Dr. Jonathan Yun

Before her accident, Anita Hastings was active, social, and deeply involved in the lives of her family. She was a mother, a grandmother, and, as she proudly describes herself, the “soccer grandma.”

She went to her granddaughter’s soccer games. She spent time with friends. She was retired, independent, and enjoying her life. Then one night in 2023, everything changed.

As Anita got out of bed, when she put one leg down, it moved normally. But when she tried to put the other leg down, she fell. She could not get back up. She could not move her arms or legs. She was alone, scared, and unable to move.

“I was scared. I was petrified,” Anita recalls.

Anita was found on the floor hours later. An ambulance brought her to the hospital. That is when Dr. Jonathan Yun was called in “Thank God Dr. Yun was the doctor that was called in for me,” Anita says. “If I didn’t have him, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Anita’s Emergency Cervical Spine Injury

Anita had suffered a serious injury to her cervical spine, also known as the neck portion of the spine.

Her injury was a fracture-dislocation. This means that the bones and ligaments of the cervical spine were severely disrupted. In Anita’s case, the injury caused severe spinal cord compression. This can be especially dangerous because the spinal cord carries signals between the brain and the rest of the body, with one of those signals being movement.

“The spinal cord injury I had was an incomplete C5 and C6,” Anita says. “I could move my head and I could probably just tingle my fingers, move them a little bit.”

Why Anita’s Cervical Spine Surgery Was Urgent

In cases like Anita’s, time matters.

Dr. Yun explained that, “urgency is key, so we performed an emergency two step surgery, where we decompressed the spinal cord, reduced the fracture, and stabilized the spine.”

This type of spinal cord decompression was performed to relieve pressure on her spinal cord, followed by a cervical spinal fusion, an ACDF in Anita’s case specifically, to stabilize her cervical spine, so Anita would have the best possible foundation for recovery.

Anita’s ACDF Recovery Story

Anita’s recovery did not happen overnight.

After leaving the hospital, she went to rehab for 90 days. From there, she spent another 10 weeks in assisted living. She came home in April 2024. “That’s when my progress really started,” Anita says.

At home, her life looked very different than it had before the accident. She had a specialized wheelchair. She needed a Hoyer lift. She required aides around the clock. She also went through a period of deep depression. But Anita kept going. “It’s been a really long journey,” Anita says. “I did what I had to do,” she says. “I’m still doing it.”

Today, Anita’s life looks very different from those first difficult months after surgery. She walks 4 to 6 miles a day with a walker. She drives. She is starting to go out more. And when she sees people who are struggling the way she once struggled, she talks to them and tries to encourage them.

“When I see people that were like me, I talk to them,” Anita says. “I try to help them because there’s always hope.”

For Anita, that message is central to her story. There is always hope.

Dr. Yun described his role in Anita’s recovery with humility. “If anything, I would say that it shows the resilience of Ms. Hastings from an otherwise devastating injury,” Dr. Yun said. “I was there to make sure her foundation was stable enough so that she can build on that to get better.”

Anita’s Spine Surgery Experience with Dr. Yun

Anita describes her experience with Dr. Yun in deeply personal terms.

“My experience with Dr. Yun was the best experience I ever had with any doctor,” she says. “The man is just the most caring doctor I have ever met.” She remembers that he told her he would do anything he could for her. “And he did,” Anita says. “He’s a blessing and he is my angel.”

For Dr. Yun, Anita’s recovery reflects her strength, commitment, and resilience. The surgery helped stabilize her spine and relieve pressure on the spinal cord, but Anita’s determination carried her through the long recovery that followed, but she also credits one other person, “Today, I’m a miracle because of Dr. Yun.”