On March 25th I did a compressed fracture of T9 from snowboarding off a 70ft jump during practice for a competition and was airlifted to the spinal trauma unit in Reno. Dr Lali Sekhon was the doctor who assessed me and did my surgery the day after arriving. I had just turned 18 and my parents were back in Australia, so it was very helpful when Dr Sekhon contacted my parents to fill them in on everything, and replied instantly to all their calls and texts.
Before surgery Dr Sekhon said he was confident my back would return to full strength. I ended up having 6 screws and 3 rods put in, I have done a lot of rehab and got the all clear after 6 months. All the specialists that I went to in Australia have been very impressed, so apart from breaking my back I was very lucky to be in that hospital with all the staff who helped me out and to have such a fantastic surgeon. He also helped us deal with the insurance company and their medical staff and made sure we had everything we needed to get home.
March 25th is almost here again a year later and on that day I will be on a plane to Italy to compete in the Jr World Championships for Slope style. So without the help of all the Staff and Dr Lali Sekhon at the spinal trauma unit I wouldn’t be back to where I am now and competing in what I love. It was a tough road getting back into snowboarding, and I have definitely tested out my new hard wear in my back with some massive crashes and even landing on my back off some jumps and it has been fine!
So thanks so much again to Dr Sekhon, Nevada Neurosurgery and everyone who helped me out at the hospital, couldn’t have done it without you! 🙂
MMD