A spin class ended abruptly for a 24-year old when she fell off her bike at the end and couldn’t walk. The condition she was suffering from was rare and exercise-induced. She didn’t know it yet.
Kaelyn Franco, a lifelong athlete, collapsed on the floor after participating in an intense indoor cycling class.
“I just collapsed. My legs couldn’t support my weight,”Franco spoke to Inside Edition.
Franco returned home from the Marlborough, Massachusetts class after she told her that she was in severe pain. She couldn’t bend her legs and said she was walking around like a “robot.”
Finally, she decided to visit the hospital. She was diagnosed as having Rhabdomyolysis after exercising too hard. A complication known as compartment syndrome was also discovered. This is a condition where pressure builds up from internal bleeding and tissue swelling. She had to undergo emergency surgery.
Doctors were able to save her leg, but it could’ve been a lot worse.
It’s been four months since the incident, and Franco is still recovering. She admitted that she is certain she would have died if she had not been to the hospital.
She has been in physical therapy for a while and has gone from a wheelchair to crutches to the cane that she uses now. She also has a long scar from the surgery.
Franco hopes that by telling her story, others might recognize when the pain they might be feeling after a workout is more than just usual soreness.
“I had no idea I could’ve lost my leg from simply taking a spin class,”Franco stated.
