Mum-of-two, 27, breaks both ankles while practising Tik Tok dance challenge
A MUM-OF-TWO has been left with two broken angles and some badly torn ligaments after attempting a viral Tik Tok dance challenge.
Sapphire Charlesworth, 27, from County Durham, and her partner were attempting the Oh Na Na Na challenge, one of the many ways people are keeping themselves entertained amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The challenge sees to people stand opposite each other and tapping their feet together in different combinations while dancing to Slim Burna’s Oh Na Na Na.
Footage from social media shows Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek completing the challenge with his sister.
Thousands of others have posted similar videos of themselves to Tik Tok in recent weeks, but rehearsals for an attempt by Sapphire and girlfriend Naadjele Lartey didn’t go quite to plan.
“We were just practising, and as I went to turn I slipped and heard ‘crack, crack’ and then I was in a heap on the floor,” she told ChronicleLive.
“It hurt so so bad. I think my partner thought I was exaggerating.
“She had to pick me up and we were trying to wait to see if the pain wore off but then we had to phone an ambulance.”
After being examined at the University Hospital of North Durham, Sapphire was told that she’d badly broken her left ankle, fractured her right angle, and torn ligaments in her right foot.
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She is now wearing a full cast on her left foot and a moon boot on the other, and has been told she might require an operation to mend the damage to her left ankle.
“To anyone thinking of trying it, I’d say approach with caution,” she said.
“It’s not as easy as it looks.”
She added that Naadjele has been nursing her as well as looking after her two children while she recovers.
She also wanted to thanks the NHS staff who took care of her during a period of such high pressures on the health system.
“I want to massively thank the NHS. Through all of this, they are keeping their spirits high,” she said.
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Recent weeks have seen demands on hospitals and medical staff soar amid the influx of patients infected by the coronavirus.
The pandemic has also seen people across the country stand on their doorsteps each Thursday evening to applaud NHS staff.