NEED TO KNOW Ella Katenkamp was days from finishing school when she woke up unable to walk

At first, she assumed the pain in her calves was from working out after a long trip

A week later, she left the hospital with a diagnosis that changed how she views her health

Ella Katenkamp was days away from finishing school when she woke to a sharp, searing pain in her calves, her feet curled into a locked position and muscles frozen. What followed was a weeklong hospital stay, a terrifying diagnosis and a viral TikTok that sparked a conversation amongst millions.

“I took a trip the week before to Georgia, and it was a lot of, like, hiking,” Katenkamp tells PEOPLE, looking back on what seemed like a fun getaway before things spiraled. “On the last day, we did a hike with thousands of stairs, and then I drove 13 hours straight back to Florida.”

The former college athlete wasted no time jumping back into her routine. “As soon as I got back, I did a leg workout at the gym,” she says, noting that cramps didn’t seem like a big deal at first.

“I got, like, really bad calf pain after that,” she explains. “My feet locked into a pointed toe position, and I couldn’t walk flat-footed. My calves were stuck like that.”

Assuming it was a standard athletic cramp, Katenkamp drank water, stretched, and went to bed. But by 5 a.m., the pain was excruciating, and her legs refused to move. “I lived with a roommate at the time, but it was, like, five in the morning and I didn’t want to wake her up,” she says. “So I crawled to my car and drove myself to the hospital.”

At the ER, her condition worsened. “As soon as I got in there, they ran over and put me in a wheelchair, and that was it for about a week,” she recalls. Throughout her hospital stay, walking was nearly impossible. “If I walked at all, someone had to hold me up because I couldn’t move my calves,” she says. “They just stopped working.”

Doctors struggled to identify the cause of her symptoms. “It took them about three or four days to figure it out,” Katenkamp notes. “The nurses would come in and just be Googling my symptoms — no one knew what it was.”

Eventually, she received a diagnosis: rhabdomyolysis, a rare condition that causes muscle fibers to break down and release toxins into the blood. “It’s like the breakdown of your muscle to the point that it poisons your blood,” she explains.

Ella Katenkamp at the hospital. Ella Katenkamp

Katenkamp was shocked to learn her creatine kinase (CK) level, a marker of muscle breakdown, was well above normal. “Your CK level’s not really supposed to be above 200, and when I got to the hospital, it was in the thousands,” she says.

Treatment involved flushing her system with fluids and monitoring her blood multiple times a day. “They had to take my blood like three times a day,” she says. “After two days, my CK level actually went up, which was really frustrating.”

By the time she was discharged, her CK level was still around 600–700. “I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, but I was starting to walk again,” she says. “It was just my legs.”

Doctors attributed the onset to a combination of factors. “They told me it was probably from the Red Bulls I drank in Georgia, not enough water, my birth control and going from sitting for 13 hours straight into an intense leg workout,” Katenkamp says.

The experience permanently changed her approach to fitness and health. “I took a huge step back from energy drinks,” she shares. “I didn’t touch them for a long time, and now I only drink them very moderately.”

Once hyperactive with early-morning practices, classes and games, Katenkamp is now far more mindful. “I drink so much more water now,” she says. “And I definitely think about what days to go hard in the gym — like, was I sitting a lot the day before?”

The condition was new to her and to many. “I had no idea what it was,” Katenkamp says. “Even the doctors didn’t know.”

She posted about the ordeal on TikTok, with the text overlay, “She doesn’t know it yet… but the next morning she was gonna crawl out of bed on all 4s and drive herself to the hospital at 6am to stay for the next week because her legs were paralyzed with rhabdomyolysis.”

While some followers offered support, others jumped to conclusions. But for Katenkamp, it was a moment that turned criticism into community. “I didn’t even really have to defend myself,” she says. “Other people did it for me.”

Many shared their own experiences or those of loved ones. “A lot of people said they’d been through something similar and knew how painful it was,” she says. “There were tons of comments wishing me a good recovery.”

Looking back, she says the condition was more than just muscle cramps. “My legs weren’t even the same size when I left the hospital,” she says. “It’s definitely a process, but luckily, I’m past it now.”

Ella Katenkamp at the hospital. Ella Katenkamp

Still, the risk of lasting damage was real. “They say it can ruin your kidneys,” Katenkamp says. “Luckily, I didn’t get to that point, but if I hadn’t gone to the hospital, it could have destroyed my organs.”

That’s why her message is firm. “It’s more than just cramps,” she says. “People kept saying, ‘Push through it,’ but I couldn’t have done that — I had to go to the hospital.”

Two years later, Katenkamp’s advice to others in recovery is simple and compassionate. “Make sure you’re taking care of yourself and read your body,” she says. “Keep up with your water, stretch and don’t overdo it.”

She encourages anyone experiencing similar symptoms to investigate all possibilities. “Follow the steps your doctors give you,” Katenkamp adds. “It can definitely come back.”

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If she could tell social media users one thing, it’s this: don’t pretend to be an expert. “You never know what’s going on,” she says. “There were over 20 different comments guessing the cause. It’s different for every person.”

Katenkamp says she understands the appeal of quick judgments, especially online. But she hopes her story shows why empathy matters. “Don’t speak on other people’s health,” she says. “If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that you really don’t know what someone’s going through.”