Ethan Adams-King, Trauma, Orthopedic Surgery, Vascular Surgery and Plastic Surgery Patient
After a devastating motorcycle accident a dedicated team of surgeons saved Ethan's leg.
Transcription
Ethan: "It was a night just like any other night. I was riding my motorcycle home from work. I had a freak accident that left me in a ditch with my leg barely hanging onto my body. My injuries were so bad that I had to get life-flighted up to Summa Health in Akron.
My leg was so mangled I thought I was gonna have to have it amputated, but the doctors at Summa wanted to save it. I had an open tibia and fibula fracture along with nerve and artery damage. My first surgery that I had, it was nine hours long, and it included a whole plethora of specialists, including Dr. Darnley, the orthopedic trauma surgeon, Dr. Moawad, the vascular surgeon, and Dr. Said and Dr. Childs, who are plastic surgeons.
That whole team of doctors was like a well-running machine, and there was a multitude of other doctors and nurses that helped with my surgery along the way. There was a very good chance that I was gonna lose my leg, so I was kind of expecting to not have it when I woke up, but when I woke up, I thought I was dreaming in a sense because I still had my leg and they were able to save it, and they made me just feel like I wasn't another patient. It was just a human connection.
One of the lasting results of my injuries, I have a drop foot. I can still ride my bike, climb stairs, and by bike, I mean bicycle, not motorcycle. Recently, I did have to go back to see Dr. Eren, my orthopedic surgeon, to have another procedure done called a tendonotomy. After about seven and a half months, I'm back to work full time, I'm a welder, and it's like I never missed a beat. I think I still have a lot left to give in this life. I'm looking forward to getting married to my fiancee, and then us buying a house, and then just seeing where life takes us.
To all the doctors and nurses that worked on me and work at Summa, I just wanna say, don't change a single thing that you do. You are amazing. I am so grateful for the care that you guys have given to me."