Stephanie Chavez

While Stephanie Chavez, 38, doesn’t have any recollection of March 2, 2022, the day is one she will never forget. It was on March 2 that Stephanie was driving her car in Englewood when she suffered a medical emergency. Her movement disorder, dystonia, caused her to lose control of her body, and subsequently, her car, which rammed into a tow truck. The resulting accident was catastrophic.

“They had to pull me out with the jaws of life,” Stephanie shares. “My arm was degloved... My elbow was completely shattered. I broke both of my knees. I broke both of my legs. I shattered my right ankle. I broke both of my wrists. I broke my hip in three places; my pelvis in three places and I fractured vertebrae in my back. I broke my nose and part of my face.”

Stephanie was transported to the Level 1 Trauma Center at nearby HCA HealthONE Swedish in an effort to save her life. She was placed in an induced coma for four days and awoke with casts “pretty much everywhere.” The trauma team assembled and began to make plans to repair the extensive injuries Stephanie sustained.

As she took stock of her injuries, one of Stephanie’s primary fears was what her arm would look like. “They told me my left arm was degloved and they wanted to amputate my arm. I thought that my tattoos were going to be ruined or lost,” Stephanie recalls.

Fortunately for Stephanie, the Swedish trauma team includes renowned reconstructive experts in the Burn and Reconstructive Center including Benson Pulikkottil, MD. Dr. Pulikkottil is the Medical Director for the Burn and Reconstructive Center at HCA HealthONE Swedish. He along with his highly skilled team of surgeons and multidisciplinary providers are well-known in the region for preventing amputations and carefully reconstructing damaged extremities. Dr. Pulikkottil advocated for limb salvage and reconstructive techniques that would save Stephanie’s arm.

“He rebuilt my elbow and fixed the muscles that were messed up. He then did a skin graft to close my arm back together,” Stephanie details. But one of the most important things to her was that he did this reconstruction while maintaining her tattoos. “None of my tattoos were even affected,” she shares.

Stephanie’s tattoos are an important part of her identity and serve as a memorial to those she loves. She explains, “One of the tattoos is ‘Nisha Elaine’ that’s for my little sister; I’ve raised her since she was three days old. I also have ‘Honesty’ tattooed and then another tattoo with a cross and a heart for my mom. And then I have a cassette tape with music notes all around it and on the cassette tape it says, ‘stomp on it.’ That’s also for my mom who passed away. All of my tattoos mean a lot to me and to Nisha too.”

Now about six months after the accident, Stephanie is well on her way to recovery. Her left arm is once again fully functional with intact tattoos. While she is still unable to walk after an ankle fusion, she is hopeful she will receive the clearance for that in the coming weeks. Once cleared, Stephanie is looking forward to getting back to walking her pitbull, Ryder, and making music. While it’s been a difficult road to recovery, Stephanie is grateful to simply be alive, “I’m so grateful to Dr. Pulikkottil and my entire trauma team at HCA HealthONE Swedish. Recovery may be boring, but I’m alive and that’s the most important thing.”