Aydin Elkins fell off her horse and suffered multiple breaks in her arm, but she always knew she would ride again.
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
Fall off a horse, get back on. Right?
Well, not so fast if you’re a young girl from Bedford who suffered multiple complex fractures to her left arm when her horse tossed her into a tree.
From there, Aydin Elkins landed in the hospital.
It was one year ago today that a then 10-year-old Aydin found herself first in an emergency department at IU Health Bedford Hospital, then in the ED at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
She would undergo multiple surgeries during her 11-day stay, many by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tyler Christman and others by plastic surgeon Dr. Gregory Borschel. There would be more surgeries, most recently with Dr. Borschel to improve the function of her index finger.
It’s been a long and painful journey for Aydin and her family, including mom Jessica Elkins, dad Brandon Elkins and granddad Jim Waeltz, all of whom came to Riley recently to see her through another operation.
Jessica was riding ahead of her daughter that day when Aydin’s horse, Cooper, got spooked, slid to a stop and deposited Aydin not so gently into the V of a tree.
“Cooper felt the saddle slipping, and he came to a stop,” said Aydin, who’s been riding since she was 2.
The impact with the tree snapped bones in her wrist, forearm and elbow, but she didn’t scream or cry, her mom recalled.
“When I picked her up after the accident, I saw her bone go back into her arm,” Jessica said. “I was freaking out.”
Looking back, Aydin said, “I think I was a little bit in shock. My arm was just dangling there.”
But true to her nickname, “Smiley,” she was grinning when she returned to Riley last month for an outpatient surgery and had plenty of questions for Dr. Borschel when he met the family in the lobby of Simon Family Tower.
She wanted to know exactly what his plan was to give her more control of her fingers, how long before she could be active again, whether she still needed to do her hand exercises and what kind of cast she would have when she left the hospital.”
She had a specific color combination in mind. Orange and black, she said, tiger stripes.
“I’ll say I fought a tiger, and I took his arm for my own,” she quipped.
Aydin, who just celebrated her 11th birthday, is a pretty tough cookie, her mom noted, as the incoming sixth-grader burned off some nervous energy before her surgery.
“I get anxious for her,” Jessica said, “but the amount of pain she handles is pretty remarkable.”
As is her attitude, according to physician assistant Rachel Giordano: “She’s had an incredible attitude throughout it all and has truly been a joy to take care of,” Giordano said.
“This was a very complex injury,” Dr. Borschel said, “and her results now are actually quite remarkable, given what she’s been through – all the surgeries and all the trauma – it’s a lot.”
Dr. Christman doesn’t argue that point.
“Her injury was complex because it was actually five fractures, all in the same forearm,” the orthopedic surgeon said. “That was compounded by the fact that it was an open injury, meaning there was a laceration at the fracture site.”
That required stabilization in the operating room, he said, with titanium elastic pins. Unfortunately, in the hours after that surgery, Aydin developed compartment syndrome in her arm, a dangerous swelling that restricts blood flow and requires emergency surgery to lessen the pressure by making small incisions (fasciotomy) in her arm, which Dr. Christman also performed.
Had that not been detected early, she was at risk for larger complications, including muscle necrosis or even loss of her arm.
Eventually, she returned to the operating room for Dr. Christman to close those incisions. Once her initial surgeries were complete and she was on her way to healing, she returned to school, only to re-break her arm a month later when a classmate accidentally bumped into her.
It wouldn’t be the first time the idea of bubble wrapping their daughter occurred to Jessica and Brandon. They made adjustments, including getting her school passing period moved up a few minutes so she could walk the halls without a crowd. But they know Aydin is a force of nature – in the best way – so they try to still let her be a kid.
That includes getting back up on her horse, first with her mom holding the reins, then a solo ride several months after her injury.
“I loved it,” Aydin said.
She’ll have to take it easy again since her latest surgery, meaning it’s not just horseback riding but other activities she loves like basketball, cheer and gymnastics that will have to wait. Instead, she’ll be back to her daily exercises to strengthen her hand and arm movement. Most of her restrictions should be lifted within about two months.
“The surgery gets you about halfway, and the rest is up to you and your family,” Dr. Borschel told her about her recovery. “The level of function you have now is a real testament to the will of your family, the ability to do all the rehab and to you.”
Aydin and her family in turn thanked the doctors, the nurses and all the people involved in her recovery over the past year.
“I owe a lot to my nurses on 9 West. They kept my spirits up,” she said.
“With complex injuries like this, it takes a big team,” Dr. Borschel said, recognizing not just the surgical staff, but all the specialties that come together to help patients, including all of the therapists. “It’s because of this integrated team that we can do things like this.”
“It’s a privilege to take care of these kids,” Dr. Christman agreed.
Three weeks out from her last surgery, Aydin is healing well, her mom said, and is eager for the day when she can get back on her horse and take control of the reins without fear.
“I’ve felt safe on a horse ever since I was little,” Aydin said. “It feels like they are so close to me.”
Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org
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