'He Could've Died': Man Suffers Stroke After Popping His Neck

GUTHRIE, Okla. (CBS Local) -- A 28-year-old Oklahoma father is speaking out after doctors say he suffered a major stroke by popping his neck.

"The moment I heard the pop, everything on my left side started to go numb," Josh Hader of Guthrie told KOCO. "I got up and tried to get an ice pack from the fridge, and I remember I couldn't walk straight."

Hader's father-in-law rushed him to the emergency room. X-rays showed Hader had torn his vertebral artery, a crucial vessel leading to the brain.

"He could've had a life-ending stroke," said Dr. Vance McCollom of Mercy Hospital Logan County. "He could've died."

Hader survived his stroke, but he had vision problems for a few days and still struggles to with his left leg. He also had painful hiccups for a week-and-a-half, nearly causing a panic attack.

But Hader said the worst part of the ordeal was not being able to help his wife with their two young children.

"I can't pick him up out of the crib, give him milk in the middle of the night," Hader said. "I can't do any of that."

McCollom said there is a safe way to pop your neck.

"If you want to pop your neck, just kind of pop it side to side; don't twist it," McCollom said. "Whenever you twist it there's a risk of tearing that vessel."