On Christmas Eve 2010, 25-year-old Jahna Whitner was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in Fairview Heights, Ill. for her son, Tyler. The area had been battling a snow storm that day, making for icy roads and limited visibility. Jahna was getting ready to pick up her son from her mother’s house; however, her car had been erratic and was constantly stalling out. So a neighbor offered to drive her to pick up her son. It was 8 p.m. As they were driving on Highway 159, going 30 mph in a 45-mph zone, another car cut them off, sending Jahna and her neighbor into oncoming traffic. “I was actually on the phone with my mother, and started shouting,” recalls Jahna. “We just missed being hit by a car, but then a truck crashed into the passenger side where I was sitting.” Realizing what was about to happen, Jahna’s neighbor pulled her towards him just before the truck hit their car. Her left arm ended up in the backseat as a result. The impact completely crushed the car, leaving Jahna severely injured and trapped. “I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience,” says Jahna. “I couldn’t move or breathe, and I started to get nervous looking at the panicked faces that were staring back at me.” First responders arrived on the scene within minutes, but had a tough time reaching Jahna. They had to cut a hole in the roof of the car for better access. By that point, Jahna’s blood pressure had dropped due to severe internal bleeding, and she was starting to lose consciousness. One of the paramedics talked non-stop to keep her awake, but he knew they had to get her out of the car as quickly as possible. “Up until the accident, I had never even broken a bone, so this was totally surreal,” says Jahna. “My whole body felt shattered, and I could tell that I was losing a lot of blood. At that moment, I just thanked God that I was still alive and prayed that I would be okay.” The first responders finally freed Jahna by bringing in the Jaws of Life. Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather conditions and geographical location of the accident, an air evacuation was not possible. Instead, Jahna was loaded into a waiting ambulance for the drive from Fairview Heights, Ill. to SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Jahna was critically injured and feeling a lot of pain, yet somehow, she still managed to remain upbeat. She even joked with the ambulance crew about how fast they were driving, reminding them that she had just been in a horrible car accident at a much slower speed. With some lightheartedness in her voice, Jahna told them she really didn’t want to get into another accident. “Based on the information that we received from the paramedics en route, we knew Jahna’s injuries were incredibly critical,” says John Boudreau, MD, assistant professor of orthopaedic traumatology at Saint Louis University Hospital and a SLUCare physician. “We quickly assessed her and performed several diagnostic tests to show us the extent of her internal injuries. We then transferred Jahna to the ICU for ongoing monitoring.” Jahna’s posterior pelvis was fractured through the posterior ilium on the left side – also known as a crescent fracture – and the sacro-iliac joint was dislocated. She sustained fractures to her right inferior ramus and through the lower part of her right hip joint. She also had a ligamentous injury to the front of her pelvis. Jahna’s left arm, which was pinned behind the driver’s seat after the accident, suffered three fractures to the humerus (upper arm). That same arm also sustained an injury to the radial nerve affecting both the motor and sensory parts of the nerve. She also fractured her spine and broke several ribs on her right side. And her liver endured major lacerations, causing massive internal bleeding. These numerous injuries threatened to end Jahna’s career as a professional dancer and gymnast. “To put it simply, my body had been twisted like an old rag doll,” she notes. “As a dancer, you use your arms, legs and entire body to move. I was devastated to think that I may never be able to pick up my son or even walk again. ” Jahna needed a number of surgeries to repair these orthopaedic injuries. However, the idea of undergoing surgery made her nervous – she had watched a few too many medical shows. Fortunately, her nurses in the ICU helped alleviate her fears. “My ICU team was amazing throughout the whole process,” she says. “They were so caring and tended to me and my family, constantly checking in to see if I needed anything.” In early January, Dr. Boudreau performed minimally-invasive surgery on Jahna’s pelvis, placing two screws through small incisions on the left side of her pelvis to fix the fracture. He also performed surgery on the radial nerve in her left arm. “Fortunately, the nerve was actually entrapped between one of the breaks in her humerus,” says Dr. Boudreau. “It was contused and thankfully not cut. We freed the nerve from between the two bone ends and stabilized all the fractures in her humerus with one long metal plate.” Jahna’s orthopaedic surgeries were very successful. She was confined to a wheelchair after her pelvic and hip surgery, but Jahna felt confident that she would walk again someday. After being discharged from SLU Hospital, she was briefly transferred to Anderson Hospital for inpatient physical rehabilitation and therapy. She has worked really hard throughout her recovery and continues physical therapy as an outpatient three days a week. More importantly, Jahna has regained some of the physical abilities that were affected after the accident. She has regained full use of her left hand, and her arm is getting stronger every day. And, after three months in a wheelchair, Jahna is finally able to walk again. “I was so lucky to be in Dr. Boudreau’s hands – he was amazing,” says Jahna. “He was the one who encouraged me to try walking unassisted. He had faith in me and my ability to get through this, and for that, I will always be thankful.” Today, Jahna is focusing her energy on getting better and being happy. She is still haunted by the events of that fateful day last December, but is hopeful about her future. In fact, she plans to continue pursuing her passion as a dance teacher. Her son, Tyler, is enjoying having his mom back at home. “During my recovery, he always called me his ‘broken mommy,’” says Jahna. “Thanks to the trauma team at SLU Hospital, he can now call me his ‘fixed mommy.’”
