Nothing Short of a Miracle
Rahel Schafer
Sep, 2016
Physicians: Justin Sybesma, MD; Samuel Durham, MD
Orthopedic surgeons are specially trained to help patients manage certain conditions, relieve pain, restore mobility and independence, or return to work and other daily activities. To find an orthopedic surgeon near you, contact us.
One year ago, while in the midst of training for a triathlon, Rahel Schafer, now 36, never expected to hear the words, “you may never walk again.”
It was Memorial Day weekend. While playing tag with the youth group she led at her church, Rahel caught her foot underneath a piece of playground equipment – hyperextending her knee and shattering the bone just below it.
Although she was in serious pain, and knew she was going into shock, she remained calm and her co-leaders called 9-1-1. Paramedics soon arrived on scene and transported her to Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph. Upon her arrival, Emergency Department staff x-rayed her leg – as is normal procedure for a broken bone – and notified Rahel that there were eight other broken bones awaiting treatment ahead of hers and she would be would number nine.
However, after an hour or so of waiting, she was notified that she would need an immediate CAT scan. Orthopedic/trauma surgeon, Justin Sybesma, MD, had reviewed the x-ray and recognized that this was a more serious injury than a routine broken leg. Although Rahel, along with her friends and parents, Jo Ann and Richard Davidson, didn’t realize it at the time, the broken bone had destroyed the main artery to her leg and blood flow had already ceased for several hours. As Rahel was being wheeled back for surgery, she still wasn’t completely aware of the magnitude of the situation, or the fact that her leg might need to be amputated.
“It is a frightening thing for parents to trust their beloved daughter to a hospital in a dire emergency, but we soon learned we didn’t need to worry,” said Jo Ann. “The care she received was very thorough and her physicians were honest with us about what was going on every step of the way.”
Before performing the initial surgery on Rahel’s leg, Dr. Sybesma requested that cardiothoracic/vascular surgeon, Samuel Durham, MD, be notified. Although he was not on-call that weekend, Dr. Durham spent the next six hours performing intricate restoration of the circulatory system in Rahel’s leg – a procedure Jo Ann calls ‘nothing short of a miracle.’ The main vein in Rahel’s left leg was excised and grafted to replace the crushed artery, and a week later she underwent a second surgery to repair the broken bone.
After spending time in both the critical care and ortho-neuro units at the hospital, Rahel underwent physical therapy for the next few months as she worked to re-establish movement with her ‘new’ leg.
Since it was a relatively risky procedure, Dr. Durham explained to Rahel and her family that 70 percent of the time the new circulatory system doesn’t take, and there was still a chance she might lose her leg. However, due to Rahel’s good health prior to the accident, that wasn’t the case. When she arrived three months later for her initial follow-up appointment, Dr. Durham’s first words were, “you still have your leg!”
“Rahel’s care team carefully [and rightly] warned her that her leg would never be the same again,” said Jo Ann. “However, one year later, she has not let that stop her from walking with no limp or cane. Our family is exceedingly grateful for the excellent medical care we received from the staff at Lakeland – they saved our daughter’s life - and her leg.”