April 10, 2014, ST. LOUIS - When Tara Bakker, 34, was told a back injury could prevent her from running, she wasn’t going to take that as an answer.
A participant in several endurance events and president of the St. Louis Triathalon Club, she did not want to lose what was so important to her.
Fortunately, SLUCare orthopedic surgeon Dirk Alander, MD, was able to perform a less invasive option through microsurgery on her back at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and she’s returned in a big way. She had back surgery April 8 of last year and competed in the Ironman in Canada August 25 with her husband Craig to great results:
Congratulations, Tara! For more of her story, read this profile in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch from reporter Harry Jackson.
