It’s an unspoken rule of crafting that the worst thing to happen during a knitting session should be a dropped stitch or a tangled skein of yarn. Unfortunately, according to an article via Wide Open Spaces, for 22-year-old Jasmine Mayer, a casual afternoon of purling with a friend in California took a wildly surreal turn when a massive tree branch decided to crash the party, quite literally. While we’ve previously reported on the frightening trends of fallen branch damage and injuries, Jasmine’s story brings the bizarre reality of these freak nature accidents right to the forefront. Instead of dealing with minor yarn drama, she found herself at UC Davis Medical Center facing life-altering spinal injuries, internal bleeding, and a sudden, unwelcome crash course in paralysis from the waist down.
Yet, if you’re looking for a tragic tale filled with bitterness and pointing fingers, you’re barking up the wrong tree. While the severe impact left Jasmine fighting a long battle to regain mobility, the mindset from her camp is less “woe is me” and more “let’s get to work.” Thanks to a spinal cord that refused to fully sever and some promising new pins-and-needles sensations in her feet, both Jasmine and her dad, Andy, are keeping their heads remarkably high. Backed by a wave of community love and a massive GoFundMe turnout, this incredibly resilient crafter is proving that while nature may have thrown her the ultimate curveball, her positive attitude is knitted in way too tightly to unravel.
Be careful out there….well, outside and around trees, in general!