Trauma tales sure to inspire

Friday, May 19, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

Keith Stolworthy was the picture of health.

The 17-year-old Basic High School senior was a multisport athlete and captain of the defending state champion volleyball team in March 2003. He was looking forward to finishing high school and pursuing an engineering degree at Brigham Young University.

Then, while riding with some friends, he lost control of his dirt bike and was hurled into a ditch. The only outward sign of major injury was a puncture wound on Stolworthy's side, but internally he was a mess. He had a lacerated spleen, a crushed aorta and more than a dozen broken ribs, which had punctured his lungs and caused them to collapse.

Stolworthy was rushed to the UMC Trauma Center, where doctors worked feverishly to stabilize him and put his crumpled body back together. The surgery to repair his damaged aorta, which saved his life, also left him paralyzed.

"I felt like my life was being taken away from me," Stolworthy said. "I went from being a young, healthy, athletic kid to possibly never walking again."

With no guarantees that it would do any good, Stolworthy began a grueling regimen of physical therapy, and slowly his body began to respond.

Wednesday morning, three years after his injury, he walked to a podium and recounted his story, joining a number of survivors who spoke at a UMC luncheon for trauma survivors. Others included a gunshot victim, several people hurt in serious auto accidents and a North Las Vegas firefighter injured in a motorcycle accident.

Each told a tale that began with a traumatic event and ended with a miraculous recovery. The common thread was the quality of treatment at the trauma center - which was precisely the purpose of the lunch. It amounted to a show of appreciation for trauma doctors and staff, in what has recently become an annual event.

"It takes a special kind of person to work in a trauma center," Dan Petcavage, a registered nurse and the facility's interim clinical manger, said. "You have to be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie."

Petcavage explained that trauma center patients are so critically injured that even after they leave the center, they often remain in very serious condition.

He said the opportunity to see patients further along in their recovery is as rewarding for the staff as it is for the patients.

While Stolworthy's recovery is far from complete, he is optimistic about his future. Despite having to use a walker to help him get around, he works part time and is enrolled at BYU. He still wants to be an engineer.

"My plans today are the same as they were before the injury," he said.