A fit and “very active” man who had a skiing accident said he did not realise he fractured his neck until he sneezed two days later, passed out and was rushed to hospital.
A fit and “very active” man who had a skiing accident said he did not realise he fractured his neck until he sneezed two days later, passed out and was rushed to hospital.
Jack McCooke, 30, who lives in London and works in tech, was on holiday in Val d’Isere in France when he skied over a lip in the snow on April 11 2024 and went “flying”, causing him to land “badly” on his neck.
He immediately passed out and woke up to a group of people around him, before he managed to get up and walk away. For two days, Jack said he was in “all sorts of pain” in his neck and back, but he assumed it was “really severe whiplash” so he did not seek medical attention.
Then, on April 13, Jack said he sneezed and felt “shooting pain” up his neck while at his desk at work, before he passed out again and was taken to accident and emergency at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Within 45 minutes, doctors confirmed a fracture in his C2 vertebrae that Jack said was “digging” on his nervous system and forced him into months of physiotherapy to recover from severe pain and loss of mobility.
He made good progress with his recovery through “extensive physiotherapy”, but on September 19 – five months after his skiing accident – Jack fell down a flight of stairs and ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
After full reconstructive surgery in February 2025 and three months of recovery, Jack decided to challenge himself by taking on the Shoreditch Half Marathon on September 20.
“It took an enormous toll,” Jack told PA Real Life of his injuries.
“It ended up being a two-year-long stretch of recovering from injuries. You’re two years older and you’re a different person altogether, so you don’t get those years back which is frustrating.
“You have to try and make the most of it going forward.”
Jack said he competed in cross-country running events and went skiing with friends and family throughout his childhood, before working as a seasonaire in ski towns as an adult.
“I’d (ski) as many times a year as possible,” he said.
But everything changed on one particular French skiing holiday he took with his friends in April 2024.
“It was any other normal day really,” Jack said, “It was 10am and we were skiing along.
“I wish it was a triple backflip off something super dangerous that did it, but it wasn’t really… I just went over a lip and the bindings on my skis were misfitted.
“It just sent me flying and I landed badly on my neck. Then I passed out.
“When I came to, there was a group of people around me… but I somehow managed to walk away from it, which I probably shouldn’t have been able to.”
Jack returned to London, but said he noticed he had back pain, especially when he coughed or took an “awkward” step.
“I was in all sorts of pain,” he said. “And I assumed initially that I maybe just had really severe whiplash.”
Jack went back to work on April 13 and, as he was sitting at his desk, he sneezed and said he felt “a load of shooting pain” through his neck, before he passed out again.
He was rushed to A&E and received his diagnosis of a fracture of his C2 vertebrae after a CT scan and X-ray.
Jack said: “Doctors were shocked that I was still standing. When she said I’d fractured my neck, I laughed at first because I thought she was joking.” “It was such a shock,” he added.
Jack said he spent six weeks feeling “pure frustration” in hospital because he went from being a “very active person” to hospital staff telling him to “sit still” to try to recover.
He said going down stairs “too quickly” could send a jolt of pain down his spine.
After Jack was discharged, he wore a neck brace for three months and said he was on “fairly strong painkillers” while he did “extensive physiotherapy” to improve his mobility and pain management.
Then on September 19, Jack was trying to carefully walk down a set of stairs and he caught his leg, causing him to fall.
It is something he said he attributes to being “so inactive” during his rehabilitation.
Jack said: “After having just finally gained some freedom and independence back, it was unendingly aggravating.”
“It just felt so unfair,” he added.
After an MRI, doctors told Jack he had a third degree meniscus tear and an ACL rupture – classified as the most debilitating knee ligament injury, according to Complete Physio.
He would need full reconstructive surgery, but he could not have it until February 2025, due to NHS waiting times.
After five months of using crutches to get around, Jack had surgery and said he needed to wear a “leg immobiliser” for six weeks and continue with mobility aids.
“So that’s where you then basically have to learn to walk again,” Jack said, “And it was a full year to get back to being able to do sport properly.”
This meant that Jack only began being able to run again in February this year.
To keep him motivated with his recovery and continued physiotherapy, Jack signed up for the Saucony Run Shoreditch Half marathon, happening on September 20.
To prepare, Jack said he does regular strength training to rebuild his “core functions” and runs “most weeks”, including longer sessions on weekends.
But Jack said his pain level from his neck injury when he runs still sits at “around four or five out of 10” and this will “creep up” in severity during longer distances.
“It’s a lifelong management case now,” Jack said.
“So I love to run, but the physio is continuous, strength exercises are continuous, and I have to avoid things that are going to be heavily jolting or aggressive.
“Even just being in a car… and going over overly bumpy roads is painful.”
Two years on from his skiing accident, Jack said he is “thankful” of how far he has come.
Jack said: “I think a lot of active people who run into an injury in their 20s – whether it’s an ACL or a fracture – can find it a real challenge.
“But there is light. Don’t give up hope.”
