LIFE AND LIMB Maple Ridge lacrosse player rejoins team following traumatic workplace injury
S
pencer Evans had reason to be excited about the coming months as he went into work in early 2015. His son would be born later in the year, and he was gearing up for his second season with the Maple Ridge Burrards of the Western Lacrosse Association, the local team he had grown up watching. All of that suddenly took a back seat in Spencer’s mind when a workplace accident sent a heavy steel plate crashing onto the 22-year old’s left arm. “I could not see my arm from the bicep down,” Spencer recalls. “I was stuck there, and I thought I lost my arm.” After being freed by firefighters, Spencer was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital, the region’s major trauma centre. Doctors and nurses moved around him as he arrived in the trauma room, diagnosing and prioritizing his injuries. The steel plate fractured one of the large bones in his forearm, dislocated the elbow and – most concerning - injured the major blood vessel in the upper arm. Motivated return “This is a case where time is of the essence,” explains orthopedic surgeon Dr. Trevor Stone. “With a team that sees, thinks and breathes trauma regularly, these injuries get picked up quickly and are dealt with.” I could not see A vascular surgeon took my arm from a vein from Spencer’s the bicep down, leg to restore blood flow I was stuck to the arm. From there, there, and I Dr. Stone used screws thought I lost to fix the fracture, put my arm. the elbow back in the joint and repaired ligament damage. He later -Spencer Evans performed a fasciotomy and skin graft to deal with swelling resulting from the return of blood to the arm. Spencer stayed in hospital for a week and a
“
”
10
YOUR HEALTH MATTERS I ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
half before returning home. Following several weeks of bed rest, he turned his attention to regaining function in his arm. “All I thought was I’ll do the best I can on rehab and push myself, so when time comes, at least I can say I gave it my best and tried to get my arm back to normal.” Spencer missed the 2015 lacrosse season but stayed close to the team. Slowly but surely, he regained use of his arm. In 2016, he resumed play for the Burrards. “We do know that patient motivation is a significant factor in outcome,” notes Dr. Stone. “It’s very impressive to say the least that he has recovered himself to the point where he is able to play high-level elite sports.” “I’m obviously thankful to Royal Columbian,” says Spencer. “I am absolutely amazed at what they did with my arm.”
Spencer Evans is playing once again with the Maple Ridge Burrards of the Western Lacrosse Association after a traumatic workplace injury in 2015.
