Dad’s ‘Violent’ Sneeze Tears Artery, Triggers Stroke

An engineer from California sneezed so forcefully that he tore an artery in his neck — triggering a stroke that he says was “excruciating.”

Ian Applegate, 35, had just put his 4-year-old son, Jon Cruz, into his car seat when he got behind the wheel of his truck to drive. “I had just started the car. I sneezed three times, then the third time it caused this blinding headache and made everything spin,” the Santa Cruz dad said, according to The Daily Mail.

“That was when my whole body started getting pins and needles on my left side. The whole left side of my body had gone numb, I knew I was having a stroke,” Applegate said. “The pain was excruciating. I was very disoriented and throwing up.”

He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined that his sneeze was so forceful, it caused a condition called vertebral artery dissection — which according to the Cleveland Clinic. is a tear in the artery that runs along your spine, supplying blood to your brain. 

For Applegate, the damage caused a blood clot to form, which then triggered the stroke. “The clot itself is incredibly tiny,” his sister Vanessa explained in a GoFundMe established to help the family; Applegate now needs to undergo therapy, as he’s struggling with speech and swallowing, and his wife Jennifer is expecting their second child in a month.

“It was a pretty hard sneeze but I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. I never thought this was possible,” said Applegate, who is still in the hospital. “I’m scared to sneeze now. My wife is eight months pregnant and I want to be there for the delivery.”

“I just want to be home in time for the baby’s birth. I’m trying to stay positive and continue my exercises until I get better,” he said, adding, “’I can tell I’m going to struggle to take care of myself and the baby.”

But as his sister noted in the GoFundMe, “he’s working as hard as he can to improve. All of your kind words of encouragement and support have meant the world to him.”

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