--- description: The girl is now paralyzed from the waist down title: 5-Year-Old Girl Becomes Paralyzed After Doing a Backbend image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677386d134a47222/69887c1b0b72e3559c6e7f9e/gettyimages-200140359-001.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Accident](/tag/accident/) ## Accident Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5-Year-Old Girl Becomes Paralyzed After Doing a Backbend by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 16, 2016 3:54 PM CUT  Collapsible wheelchair in empty corridor of hospital Collapsible wheelchair in empty corridor of hospitalReza Estakhrian—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 16, 2016 3:54 PM CUT A 5-year-old girl in Rancho Palos Verdes , Calif. has become [paralyzed](http://abc7.com/news/5-year-old-rancho-palos-verdes-girl-paralyzed-doing-backbend/1247719/ "undefined") from the waist down after performing a backbend in her home. When Eden Hoelscher collapsed and started crying on the morning of Dec. 23, 2015, she said she could not move her legs, ABC News reports. She was taken to the hospital, where doctors saw that she had hyperextended her spine, causing a contusion that cut off blood flow in her spinal cord and subsequently caused a stroke in her spinal cord. Eden is now paralyzed from the waist down, but she is going to physical therapy, and her family hopes that she will be able to walk again; doctors are not yet sure what may happen. \[[ABC News](http://abc7.com/news/5-year-old-rancho-palos-verdes-girl-paralyzed-doing-backbend/1247719/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4261197/backbend-paralyzed-girl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4261197/backbend-paralyzed-girl/"},"headline":"5-Year-Old Girl Becomes Paralyzed After Doing a Backbend","datePublished":"2016-03-16T15:54:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:57:09.969Z","description":"The girl is now paralyzed from the waist down","url":"https://time.com/4261197/backbend-paralyzed-girl/","keywords":["Accident"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677386d134a47222/69887c1b0b72e3559c6e7f9e/gettyimages-200140359-001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt677386d134a47222/69887c1b0b72e3559c6e7f9e/gettyimages-200140359-001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"200140359-001","caption":"200140359-001","creditText":"Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/accident/","name":"Accident"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4261197/backbend-paralyzed-girl/","name":"5-Year-Old Girl Becomes Paralyzed After Doing a Backbend"}}]}] ```