A holidaymaker has described how her dream trip became a holiday from hell when she dislocated her spine during a dive.
Hannah Conteh was on a holiday of a lifetime to Costa Rica with her partner Daniel when the couple decided to take a boat trip.
The 34-year-old dislocated her coccyx when diving from the boat into the water, which resulted in excruciating pain.
And now, despite having had surgery to try and repair the damage, Hannah is struggling with daily pain.
She is now sharing her story to raise awareness of the dangers that can occur when diving off boats.
She said: "Towards the end of our holiday in February 2020, we decided to go on a boat trip, and I jumped into the water.
"My boyfriend even said I had done pretty much a perfect dive straight down, but I knew as soon as I hit that water that something was wrong.
"I was in pain straight away, but I managed to get up back into the boat, and it was still so painful."
From their location, Hannah had to wait several days before she could visit a hospital in Costa Rico.
She said: "It was even longer to try and get home, because I had to be flown lying down.
"It was when the pandemic was just starting, so there wasn't much space on planes because no-one wanted to sit near anyone else.
"Normally, I'd be ecstatic about being able to stay on holiday a bit longer, but I was in too much pain to enjoy it."
Due to her injury, Hannah is now in constant pain.
She said: "The only relief I get is lying down or standing, sitting is just so painful.
"I have to have a special cushion to sit down on.
"I had six internal manipulations, two external, and as a last resort, surgery to remove two vertebrate from the bottom of my spine, but none of it worked."
The surgery has a 60 per cent success rate, but Hannah fell into the 40 per cent who are left still in pain.
She said: "I had the surgery in September 2021, and in January my orthopaedic surgeon said there was nothing more they could do.
"Now, I'm just on a course of pain management, so I have a prescription for morphine and diazapram, but I try and avoid taking them unless I have a really bad flare up.
"I used to be a really active person, I would teach yoga and pilates, but I've not been able to do that since the accident."
Hannah is now fundraising on behalf of British Orthopaedic Association.
She said: "To encourage people to donate, I'll be doing an 11 day trek across the famous national reserve of the Maasai Mara in Africa.
"All the money will go charity, but I'm hoping to do the trip to prove to myself that I can get through the tough times.
"It will be a huge challenge, but once I've done it I'll know I can get through anything."
