A holidaymaker snapped her neck and was left paralysed after diving head first into water that turned out to only be three feet deep - only to be subjected to horrendous comments when she got back into dating.
Eden Schroeder, 21, was on a boating trip with friends in Florida, US, when she suffered the life-changing injury in November 2020.
She dived off the boat not realising how shallow the water was and hit her head on a submerged sandbank - snapping her neck on impact.
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The college student was left floating below the water before her frantic friends pulled her from the ocean to safety.
The then 18-year-old was rushed back to shore when she begged paramedics to 'fix her' before she was taken via air ambulance to the intensive care.
Eden, from Atlanta, Georgia, US, said: "The water was super shallow and no one realised. We stopped to swim.
"I used to be a swimmer in high school and I did it competitively since I was about four.
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"I was a confident swimmer so I didn't think anything would be wrong.
"I completely severed my vertebrae, so I was immediately paralysed. I was face down under the water.
"I couldn't move my arms, couldn't move my entire body."
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When Eden was pulled back onto the boat by a close friend, they realised something was wrong.
Eden said: "Once I was on the boat floor no one was sure what was going on.
"I was able to speak even though I shouldn't have been because of where I broke my neck. My lungs were partially paralysed at the time.
"I was still able to talk, so I told everyone I was okay and I was just in shock and just needed to lay down for a second.
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"After a couple of minutes they were pulling my arms side to side to see if I could move, and nothing was happening."
After undergoing emergency surgery at Lee Memorial Hospital, Eden was transferred to a rehabilitation centre for those with spinal cord injuries and diseases.
While 80 percent of her body remains paralysed, she has regained some movement in her arms and has now managed to begin dating, driving, and even swimming again
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Eden said: "The first week I couldn't move my arms or anything. Then I slowly regained that movement, which was nice.
"I've been dating but it's crazy when paralysed. There's a lot of people at 21 who aren't ready for that, so I've been trying to date a bit older."
A lad she once dated even celebrated the fact she was paralysed due to a ridiculous reason.
The bloke said he liked dating her as he 'knew she won't be able to go out and cheat' as she was partially paralysed.
"It was crazy to me," Eden added. "It's been interesting. You find good people too though."
Eden hopes sharing her story will encourage others to be more cautious, but she believes that you can still lead a good life after trauma, even beginning para-swimming which she hopes to compete in at an international level.
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