Ben Schroeder's Story: Please Help
Posted
on
on Monday, October 08, 2012
by Rob
If you’ve ever seen Ben Schroeder skate in person, then you know how gnarly he gets. In true Ben fashion, he broke his leg bombing a hill over a year ago, and is currently dealing with serious medical complications.
If you’ve ever seen Ben Schroeder skate in person, then you know how gnarly he gets. In true Ben fashion, he broke his leg bombing a hill over a year ago, and is currently dealing with serious medical complications. Check out his own words right here and donate to his paypal at BENJAMSCHROEDER@YAHOO.COM if you can help out.
I have been in quite critical condition for many months now. I endured a head-on-collision while speeding down my local mountain road. I did not react fast enough to jump over the car and collided with the bumper into my shin before going under the vehicle which came to a stop parked on top of me...etc.
My tibia was completely severed in two has not healed in the passed 13 months since the collision. It is now what they call a Non-Union. The LA Docs gave me bad advise and told me the two tibia-ends were connected and to go ahead and start walking on it without a cast to help stimulate bone growth. They even gave me clearance to go to Denmark and fullfill a contract that Locomotive Skateparks had to build a kidney pool there.
Two weeks after arriving in Denmark I had some Xrays shot of aching lower leg and was told by the Danish Doctors that if I did not undergo emergency surgery immedietely, I would soon be a criple. I quickly agreed and endured the surgery. During this operation, which occured on May 3rd, they installed an external fixation device to the two tibia ends which had become greatly askew from each other (see pic attached). The device cosists of 4 aluminum rings around my lower leg with 11 steal rods screwed into the two broken pieces of the tibia. There are adjustable struts between the rings that I, myself, cranked 3 times a day for the first month after the surgery in order to re-align the tibia ends. The date to remove the fixation device was scheduled for Sept 3rd but that date has been consistantly pushed further back as a result of the gap between the ends of the tibia still not filling with new bone.
I originally scheduled my trip to Denmark last 3 weeks to complete the pool than fly back home to Los Angeles. Due to the fact that it would be very dangerous to my leg to endure the swelling/shrinking that occurrs during the flight from Denmark to California, I am required to stay here until the device is surgically removed. I have now been in expensive Denmark - couch surfing so-to-speak - for 6 months. Recently I have been sleeping in a back room of a skater-owned restaraunt here in northern jutland. It sure would be nice if I could afford to rent an apartment for these upcoming cold winter months that I am forced to remain here.
I have been in quite critical condition for many months now. I endured a head-on-collision while speeding down my local mountain road. I did not react fast enough to jump over the car and collided with the bumper into my shin before going under the vehicle which came to a stop parked on top of me...etc.
My tibia was completely severed in two has not healed in the passed 13 months since the collision. It is now what they call a Non-Union. The LA Docs gave me bad advise and told me the two tibia-ends were connected and to go ahead and start walking on it without a cast to help stimulate bone growth. They even gave me clearance to go to Denmark and fullfill a contract that Locomotive Skateparks had to build a kidney pool there.
Two weeks after arriving in Denmark I had some Xrays shot of aching lower leg and was told by the Danish Doctors that if I did not undergo emergency surgery immedietely, I would soon be a criple. I quickly agreed and endured the surgery. During this operation, which occured on May 3rd, they installed an external fixation device to the two tibia ends which had become greatly askew from each other (see pic attached). The device cosists of 4 aluminum rings around my lower leg with 11 steal rods screwed into the two broken pieces of the tibia. There are adjustable struts between the rings that I, myself, cranked 3 times a day for the first month after the surgery in order to re-align the tibia ends. The date to remove the fixation device was scheduled for Sept 3rd but that date has been consistantly pushed further back as a result of the gap between the ends of the tibia still not filling with new bone.
I originally scheduled my trip to Denmark last 3 weeks to complete the pool than fly back home to Los Angeles. Due to the fact that it would be very dangerous to my leg to endure the swelling/shrinking that occurrs during the flight from Denmark to California, I am required to stay here until the device is surgically removed. I have now been in expensive Denmark - couch surfing so-to-speak - for 6 months. Recently I have been sleeping in a back room of a skater-owned restaraunt here in northern jutland. It sure would be nice if I could afford to rent an apartment for these upcoming cold winter months that I am forced to remain here.
