It Was Our First Time at Bronson, But It Was a Great Experience

Adam was out enjoying a day of dirt bike riding with his family when one of the jumps changed the course of the day. He went over a hill and came off his bike. When he hit the ground, his bike landed on top of him with his hand caught in the still running bike. The injury was severe. His hand was nearly amputated at the wrist.

What followed was a frantic rush to get Adam the care he desperately needed. The first stop was a small hospital nearest their home. The hospital told the family that the severity of the injury was simply too extreme to be handled there and Adam was rushed by ambulance to Bronson Methodist Hospital.

On route, his mother Heidi was prepped by staff in the ambulance as to what they would encounter once they arrived. The ambulance team described the trauma room and what it would be like. Adam finds it difficult to remember any details from that day, but Heidi shared that, “the experience in trauma was chaotic, but a good chaos. Everyone was working together to provide Adam with the care he needed. It was definitely fast moving.”

When asked what her expectation was going in, she simply said, “I guess I didn’t really have an expectation. At that point, I wasn’t even sure he was going to make it.”

Into the scene came his surgeon, Dr. Mayron Lichterman. He recalls the severity of the injury and shared how Adam came close to losing his hand that day. A four-hour surgery involved Dr. Lichterman rebuilding the dislocation and broken bones while also reconnecting the severed tendons, artery and nerves.

Heidi recalled her experience at Bronson. “It was our first time at Bronson, but it was a great experience.” She shared that, “Dr. Lichterman was very communicative with our family. We knew everything that was happening with Adam.”

And, while the surgery took four hours, it was just the beginning. What followed was a very long road of therapy and an additional surgery to remove hardware and scar tissue. All in all, a simple jump gone wrong would take over a year and a half before Adam was back to a new normal. When you meet him now, you would never know what had happened to him unless he showed you the scar on his right wrist. He’s back to racing his bike and living his life.

Dr. Lichterman shared that he is honored to be able to do what he does. “There is really a unique opportunity in orthopedics, especially in hand surgery, to make a big difference in someone’s life,” he shared. “People don’t really realize how important their hands are until they have an injury. It has real impact on their lives.”

He added that his job is to get people back to what they want to do and need to do.

If you would like more information about Dr. Lichterman and the orthopedic services available visit bronsonhealth.com/ortho.