Sylvia Tena is paralyzed, and the way she got this way will horrify you.

Tena says she was in an airplane bathroom when severe turbulence threw her into the ceiling, fracturing her spine.

"It's hard because it's terrible being in bed all the time," Tena tells INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd.

It all unfolded in the skies above McAllen, Texas. The turbulence that injured Tena that night lasted 15 seconds, according to the official report, and the turbulence was severe, leaving her on the floor of the airplane bathroom unable to move.

"I couldn't feel my feet, couldn't feel my hands," she remembers.

Tena was rushed to this hospital as soon as the Continental Airlines jet landed.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Trey Fulp was on call that night. He tells INSIDE EDITION, "The injuries she incurred in her neck is basically what we call a hangman's fracture, and where the fracture occurs is the same type of fracture you get when you're hung, or a person is hung...a lot of people don't make it alive to the emergency room."

Continental Airlines says the seatbelt sign was illuminated during the whole flight because of the turbulence.

The National Transportation Safety Board quotes the plane's captain as saying, "A total of 4 or 5 announcements were made to passengers during the flight to please remain in their seats."

Tena insists she didn't hear any announcements, and says other passengers had also left their seats to use the bathroom.

Either way, she has to face each day from her bed. "I know that this is going to be for life."