Patient Stories > Paul Cervellero

Six-year-old Paul Cervellero is a typical kindergartener. He likes to play outside with his friends and ride his bike. But one day while riding his bike with his mom in his neighborhood, he was hit by a car that was traveling at a high speed and suffered a severe femur fracture. The injury was so bad that the bone came out through a small hole in his skin, resulting in a large amount of blood loss and a fear of infection of the bone. It also left him in excruciating pain.

Paul was quickly transported to his local hospital where physicians determined that he needed the highly specialized orthopedic care that could only be provided at a pediatric hospital. After being medevaced to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon quickly operated on him to repair his leg. Paul spent five days in the hospital and was in a series of casts for 18 weeks.

His parents are thrilled with the care Paul received and cannot even begin to express their gratitude to the medical team that saved their son's leg. They say that everyone they came into contact with at the hospital-from the admissions office to the office staff and his caregivers-helped to alleviate the family's anxiety during a very difficult time.

After undergoing physical therapy, Paul is back to doing all of his favorite activities, including riding his bike. He only has one more surgery planned to remove the metal rod in his knee that is holding his leg in alignment. Now that he is on the road to recovery, his mom says she feels that she has awoken from a nightmare.