U.S. MARINE GUNNERY SERGEANT DAVID SMITH AGAINST SURVIVES ALL ODDS

Because U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant David Smith had cheated death before, during four deployments to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, he didn’t expect that the biggest battle for his life would be fought on home turf.

On July 31, 2011, David Smith sat the goal of minimizing further nerve damage. At this point, it was on his motorcycle at a red light still not known if David would be able to walk. one block from home in Rancho Bernardo. (Read more in the words On August 9, David had a five-hour neurosurgical procedure of David and his fiancée, Vanessa laying face down while Dr. Marcisz led a team of surgical experts Potts, online at www.pph.org/ through the intricate process of fusing three cervical vertebrae trauma.) He was rear-ended in a and then further securing them with a pencil-thin titanium rod that David Smith fights for his life while horrifying and senseless mid-day permanently stabilizes the cervical spinal column. recovering from internal decapitation crash. Suffering extensive spinal – a typically fatal injury. Two days later, David took his first two steps since the crash. cord injuries and massive internal He was weaned from the ventilator and slowly started speaking. bleeding, David was unresponsive when paramedics arrived. They He began working with a physical therapist, walking more each immediately started ventilation with an airbag, then carefully and day and continued to regain movement and sensation throughout safely stabilized David’s spine in a neutral position before taking him his body. to Palomar Medical Center’s (PMC) Trauma Center. About 10 days after surgery, David was considered medically The trauma team, led by David Cloyd, M.D., was ready to stable and transferred to PMC’s Acute Rehabilitation Unit where he prioritize and manage David's most critical injuries. An airway participated in at least three hours of intense rehabilitation therapy was established to stabilize and regulate continuous oxygen flow. every day. A comprehensive CT scan confirmed multiple blunt force injuries to his head, neck and spine, along with severe internal bleeding On August 23 – three weeks and two days after his life was almost with injuries to the spleen, liver and kidney. Interventional surgery stolen from him – David walked out of PMC and into medical history stopped major bleeding and David went to intensive care, where he journals as one of a handful of survivors of internal decapitation who was maintained on life support. have fully recovered their physical and cognitive functions.

“Any one of those injuries could have been life threatening,” “The entire staff was amazing and every nurse was important to John Steele, M.D. says , medical director of PMC’s Trauma my care,” David says. Since then, he has continued with outpatient Center. “Our trauma system is designed for these situations, occupational therapy and physical therapy at Balboa Naval Hospital. with experts who are trained to intervene rapidly and effectively to On October 17, he completed three sets of 10 pull-ups and was save lives.” dismissed from further occupational therapy.

The next day, an MRI of the brain and upper spinal cord confirmed While David looks forward to that David had suffered internal decapitation, a typically fatal injury resuming full duty at the Marine in which the base of the skull separates from the spinal column. Crops Recruit Depot, where he works as an Operations Training “Internal decapitation is rare and, in 25 years, I have never seen a Chief, his focus was on being patient with such extensive injuries survive,” says Thomas Marcisz, fully recovered by April 9, 2012. M.D., the neurosurgeon who treated David. “Worldwide, only one That’s the date when he and or two people out of 100 survive internal decapitation and most Vanessa Potts were married, often they will have devastating, lingering functional impairment.” With physical therapy and a lot of determination, David has regained seven years to the day of their full mobility. Dr. Marcisz and the trauma team went to work planning a very first date. delicate neurosurgery to stabilize the vertebrae in David’s neck, with

For more information about Palomar Health rehabilitation services, visit www.PalomarHealth.org.