FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A year after the medical team at a local hospital saved his life after a violent crash, a 20-year-old patient is reuniting with them to give his thanks.
Stephen Livingston was given a joyous entrance at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
“Stephen is an example of why we do this. He is a young man full of light and the purpose of what we dedicate our careers to is to give patients like Stephen the chance of survival,” said Dr. Michael Parra, trauma surgeon at Broward Health.
Last year in March, Livingston suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after a high-speed car crash.
He was rushed to the hospital, and two weeks in, doctors said he took a turn for the worse.
“He developed a lot of brain swelling in a delayed manner,” said Dr. Daniel Klinger, neurosurgeon at Broward Health.
Doctors said they had to move quickly to save his life.
“We had to take him to surgery pretty quickly to remove a portion of the skull and allow the brain to swell out,” said Klinger.
The surgery was a success, and Livingston’s health gradually improved.
Doctors performed a second surgery to replace the removed portion of his skull.
Since then, Livingston said he’s made big advances in his recovery.
“I have made huge progress from when I was here the first time, but progress never ends,” he said.
The medical team said it’s not every day they get to see what happens to their patients, but seeing Livingston again after his remarkable recovery is something they will forever cherish.
“I could not be happier to be here with the help of a lot of people,” said Livingston.
May is National Trauma Survivors Awareness Month, a time to highlight injury prevention, honor the resilience of trauma survivors, and recognize the lifesaving work of the care teams who treat them.
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