SÃO JOSÉ DO RIO PRETO, BRAZIL — A woman in southern Brazil was left paralysed from the neck down when she fell from an exercise equipment while doing sit-ups at the gym.

In January 2016, 23-year-old law student and self-proclaimed gym fanatic Marcelle Mancuso was doing a simple inverted sit-up at the gym when the accident took place.

The strap that tied Mancuso to the equipment reportedly broke and her trainer wasn't able to catch her time, resulting in her head hitting the floor. The impact left Mancuso instantly unable to move.

The injury broke Mancuso's fifth vertebra in the neck, another vertebra was knocked out of place and a third was squashed. The injury compressed Mancuso's spinal cord, which led to the paralysis.

Lucky for her, after several months of therapy, Mancuso managed to start walking again, and eventually recovered fully from the horrific injury.

Mancuso said the injury was like a nightmare she was glad to be woken from. She's says she's thankful to God that her life is back to normal, and has learned to value the simple things in life.