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My story starts in the Fall of 2017.
I had told my good friends from Michigan that if they ever drew out an elk tag in Utah I'd be more than happy to go help them on their hunt. Well, I got a call telling me that my friends son drew a LE Muzzleloader Elk Tag for the Book Cliffs in Utah. They wanted to know if my offer still stood. I told them of course yes. (you never turn down a chance to go elk hunting).
The hunt started September 23, 2017. We loaded up and headed for the Book Cliffs. Opening morning we set out to find that perfect bull. It wasn't until three days later we found the one. He took his shot and made a successful kill. We took care of the elk. Quartering it out and bagging it up. We securely tied it onto the four wheelers and began to head out.
The terrain was extremely steep with a deep ravine at the bottom. We had five miles back to camp. My four wheeler began to tip. I hung on to it knowing if it went into the deep ravine we'd never get it out. It began to roll. This didn't play out well for me. When I opened my eyes I could see my four wheeler teetering up above me. I was in the ravine. I was stunned.
As I looked down at my legs, my left foot was facing backwards and the bone was protruding out the side. My adrenaline started kicking in and I proceeded to turn my foot around facing forward. I carefully pushed the bone back in. I was bleeding profusely. My will to survive my situation took over. I knew I was lucky to be alive. I began to yell for my friends who were already staring downward at me from above the deep ravine.
I asked them to find me two sticks to make a splint for my leg. We tied them on each side of my leg with parachute cord which I always carried in my pack and they cinched it up tight. We had to tie my foot up because it just hung. My friends scrambled to get me out of the ravine. They had gotten my four wheeler upright and running. They helped me to get positioned on it and we proceeded to ride back to camp.
Now it was their turn to roll. I turned around and went to help them. No one was hurt. I hooked onto their four wheeler and pulled it upright. We again headed towards camp. When we finally arrived in camp they hurriedly helped me into my friends truck. We drove over 100 mph to the nearest hospital. When we arrived at the hospital in Roosevelt, Utah it had been almost eight hours since the accident.
I ended up staying a week and having two surgeries. The first surgery Dr. Mark Hansen could only go in and clean out my crushed ankle and treat it for infection since it was a compound fracture and I had pushed the bone back in. They didn't have enough hardware at the time to put my ankle back together. They treated me for pain and infection for three days until the hardware arrived.
I had my second surgery. Dr. Mark Hansen tried to put my left ankle back together with what was left of it. Two plates and twenty screws later Dr. Hansen informed me he did his best with the bag of bones I brought him. I spent two more days in the hospital before being released to go home. About a month after being home I was in the care of another physician while Dr. Hansen was out of the country.
Then my leg swelled up like a balloon. I got a bone infection called Enterobacter Cloacae. It had gone thru my entire body including my heart. I was immediately sent to the hospital where they started a pic line in my heart. I spent the next three months in a recliner with a pic line running antibiotics thru out my body to kill the infection. Later, when blood tests showed negative for the infection I was back in surgery. Dr. Hansen removed one plate which was determined to have caused the infection and half the screws.
The next surgery was to clean out any remaining infection and scrape the bone in hopes of promoting new growth. The infection had disintegrated 2/3 of my ankle and part of my tibia. The damage to my ankle was irreversible. Dr. Hansen retired and I thanked him for all he did. I was referred to other doctors. They told me I would never walk on it again. They even told me if I had been their patient after the accident they would have amputated my leg.
This was hard to hear and really scared me. This was it? No more hunting? Really? I couldn't accept that. I started my own therapy. I would soak in a tub of the hottest water I could stand and press my left foot against the front of the tub until I couldn't take the pain. I figured if I kept doing this over and over again it would give a little and I would begin to have motion in my ankle. It definitely helped.
I found out later I had broken two screws off. I slowly tried to put weight on it but it just wasn't strong enough. Again I was sent to another specialist. He referred me to a place that would make a custom brace for me. Well, $2000 later I had a worthless brace. Another one was made for me. This time I had to find a shoe that it would fit in and still support my ankle.
I spent $1000's in boots trying to find one that the brace would fit into, support my ankle and be comfortable. I had to buy boots that were one and a half sizes larger than my normal size. So I had to wear two pairs of thick socks on my right foot to wear the boot while the brace fit into the left boot. I could get around a little but eventually my hip started hurting and my back started giving me problems.
The Fall Hunting Expo was in the city. I really wanted to go but knew I could never walk thru it. I decided to take my new scooter. I seen the Kenetrek Booth and thought "yeah right just another pair of expensive boots that won't work". I decided to stop anyway. I told the salesman my situation. He told me I should seriously try the Kenetrek Everstep Orthopedic Boots. He said he was part owner of the company. He assured me they would be perfect for my situation.
I really didn't want to spend $100's more on boots that wouldn't work, so I went home and talked to my doctor. He was very impressed with them and how well they would support my fractured ankle. We tried to get my insurance to pay for a pair. They wouldn't budge. They offered to pay for another $2000 brace but not for a pair of boots!
Well, I finally broke down and bought a pair of the Kenetrek Everstep Boots. As soon as I put them on and took those first few steps I knew I had made the right choice. These boots support my ankle without causing pain in my hip and back. I can wear my normal size. I have been able to go hiking again. I'm not as fast and cannot go as far as I could before my accident but I can still do what I love . . . HUNT! I would say to anyone out there who has ankle problems, buy the Kenetrek Everstep Orthopedic Boots. You will not regret it. These boots have been a life changer for me. Thank you, Stuart & Kenetrek!
-Corey P.