DENVER, Colo. —  A Colorado woman is living miracle, doctors say, after a car crash separated her skull from her spine, literally decapitating her from the inside, according to a Denver news report.

Shannon Malloy, 30, hit her head on the dashboard of a vehicle she was riding in during a Jan. 25 car accident, suffering what is clinically known as internal decapitation, according to KMGH 7News.

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"I remember the impact and then I had no control over my head," Malloy told 7News. "I wasn't focused so much on the pain. I just kept thinking, 'I have to stay alive.'"

Doctors drilled five screws into Malloy's neck and four more into her skull to attach a stabilizing halo to keep her head still. According to Malloy, she suffered a fractured skull, swelling of the brain stem, bleeding in the brain and nerve damage to her eyes.

Dr. Gary Ghiselli of the Denver Spine Center credits Malloy's strong will for her survival.

"It's a miracle that she was able to survive from the actual accident. It's a miracle that she's made the progress that she's made," said Ghiselli.