Playboy model Katie May’s sudden death was the result of a chiropractor visit

The death of a popular Playboy model was brought on by a ‘neck manipulation by chiropractor’ after she suffered an injury during a photo shoot.

Katie May fell during a shoot in Los Angeles earlier this year and was later taken to the hospital for neck pain but released later that day.

The 34-year-old, whose popularity earned her the title ‘Queen of Snapchat’ from Playboy, was still in pain when she posted this message to her Twitter: ‘Pinched a nerve in my neck on a Photoshoot and got adjusted this morning. It really hurts! Any home remedy suggestions loves? XOXO.’

It seems that the trip to her chiropractor to fix things only made it worse though according to TMZ, and ultimately led to her death after a tear to an artery in her neck stopped the flow of blood to her brain. 

The single mom left behind a seven-year-old daughter Mia.

Her death has been ruled an accident, and it is not known if her family plans to pursue legal action against the chiropractor.

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Gone too soon: Playboy model Katie May (above), 34, passed away in February

Moment: May tweeted that she had gone to the chiropractor to get her neck ‘adjusted’ and was still in pain shortly before going to the hospital

Sad: May left behind a young daughter Mia (above), 7, and a GoFundMe page has raised over $36,000 for the girl

A GoFundMe campaign was launched at the time to raise money for May’s daughter.

The fundraising page, which has drawn more than $36,000 in donations, reads: ‘Katie’s family plans on using any money raised to help pay for education, Mia’s daily life and to help her dad with the costs of parenting.’

The bombshell blonde, whose photos have appeared in such publications as Playboy Magazine and Sports Illustrated, had a massive fan base, with close to 2million followers on Instagram alone.

In her final Instagram message, which was posted just days before her death, she wrote: ‘Hope everyone is having a great Monday! It’s very windy here today.’

The post was accompanied by a photo of the statuesque model posing in a cheeky bathing suit in Laguna Beach, California. It has drawn more than 41,000 ‘likes’ as of Thursday. 

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In an interview with the Huffington Post earlier this year, May revealed that she grew up in a small town outside Pittsburgh, the youngest of four children. Both her parents were teachers who worked multiple jobs to support their family.

The proud native daughter said she was a massive Steelers, Penguins and Pirates fan, as well as a fan of the Lakers and Clippers. She also was a cheerleader for awhile.

After graduating from Ohio University and getting a job in public relations working for the high-end fashion house Dolce Gabbana, May fell in love with a man called Alex Maimon, and later became pregnant, but a short time afterwards, their relationship came to an end.

While raising her daughter as a single parent, May quit her corporate job and started a PR firm of her own, but her company went under during the recent economic collapse.

AUTOPSY EXPLAINED: HOW DID KATIE MAY’S NECK INJURY AT THE CHIROPRACTOR LEAD TO HER DEATH 

by Mia de Graaf, DailyMail.com Health Reporter

According to the autopsy, Katie May’s chiropractor inflicted an injury that tore her left vertebral artery. The autopsy said it was an ‘accidental death’.

Torn vertebral arteries are a common cause of stroke in young stroke sufferers – they account for about a fifth of strokes in young people compared to 2.5 per cent of strokes in old people.

The two vertebral arteries supply the head and neck with oxygenated blood.

Tears are very rare. They can be caused by a traumatic injury, or when blood gets between the layers of the artery wall.

If one (or both of them) tears, blood can clot in the artery, leading to a stroke. Tears can also allow blood to travel up into the brain, causing a brain injury.

Katie May suffered a tear to her left vertebral artery, according to the autopsy

At first, the sufferer may feel a stabbing, sharp, unusual pain in the neck, head, eye or face.

This may continue for hours, days or weeks before the patient suffers a life-threatening episode.

Typically, sufferers will have a stroke within 24 hours of their first symptoms. In some cases it can take 10 days for the blood to clot, causing a stroke.

This injury is very similar to the one that famously caused British journalist and TV personality Andrew Marr to have a stroke at the age of 53 in January 2013. 

A vigorous workout session on a rowing machine caused Marr to tear his carotid artery – right next to the vertebral artery – triggering a life-threatening stroke.

Awful: Her adjustment left her with a tear to an artery in her neck which stopped the blood flow to her brain (May above with her ex Alex Maimon)

Cause: An autopsy has revealed that her death was the result of a ‘neck manipulation by chiropractor’

She and Maimon also started a denim line after their split called SINR, which stood for Steel Inspired New-Age Revolution.

‘I come from superhigh fashion. I’m not going to go down on denim [quality],’ May told WWD at the time. 

‘I want [SINR Denim] to be the Dolce Gabbana of jeans.’

May then went back out there and found work doing PR for an entertainment company, but after clawing her way back up the corporate ladder, she once again found herself unemployed and penniless when the company was sold.

That is when she decided to try her hand at modeling.

‘I was going to follow my true desire to be on the other side of the camera,’ she told the news site. ‘Even though I am much older than most of the girls in the industry and really had no experience.’

She said she wanted to make sure her daughter could go to private school. In November 2015 she said she made far more modelling than she ever did in a corporate job.

A playboy.com feature in 2015 crowned her the Queen of Snapchat, and she identified herself as such ever since.