Three years ago, life changed forever for Vanessa and her family. What should have been a short trip to the park turned into an utter nightmare. When trauma strikes, it’s easy to see why access to a specialized healthcare facility like Sainte-Justine is so important.
Accidents can happen anywhere and everywhere: in traffic, on the ski slopes, on a trampoline – you name it. In Vanessa’s case, it involved a violent attack by two dogs at a local park on September 20, 2015.
A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
“It’s very upsetting to see your child get hurt, even if it’s relatively minor. What happened to Vanessa was a parent’s worst nightmare. And it will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
Dr. Daniel Borsuk is open about the impact of the trauma cases he sees: they are heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching. Not only are accidents the leading cause of death in children under 18, they are the source of unfathomable pain, both for the victims and for the people who love them.
“The impact of a trauma goes beyond the physical damage. It has social and psychological repercussions. It shakes a family to the core. It’s hard to imagine just how deeply it affects you.”
The impact of a trauma goes beyond the physical damage. It has social and psychological repercussions. It shakes a family to the core. It’s hard to imagine just how deeply it affects you.
Vanessa X Sainte-Justine
In the backdrop of Vanessa’s story are many people whose involvement made all the difference. Among those are the team at Sainte-Justine who worked tirelessly to help her recover. Dr. Borsuk, a pediatric plastic surgeon and head of plastic surgery at Sainte-Justine, was in the emergency room on September 20, 2015.
Dr. Borsuk, who recently performed the first Canadian face transplant, has a passion for pediatric care. “Children are so innocent. They haven’t done anything to deserve what has happened to them. There’s nothing more gratifying than restoring their quality of life – nothing.”
For Vanessa’s parents, Magdalena and Bernard, it was reassuring to have a professional of Dr. Borsuk’s calibre in charge of her case – not only because of his expertise but also for the caring and compassion he showed in treating their daughter. “The first time we met him was 12 hours after the attack, right before she was brought into surgery,” they explain. “He was very empathetic but didn’t mince words when it came to Vanessa’s condition and the risks related to the operation. He described what they were up against and what the possible side effects could be in very clear terms. We felt comfortable with him right away.”
There was damage to her hand, nerves, salivary glands, ear canal and jawbone. They didn’t know whether the grey matter in her brain was affected. Paralysis was a definite possibility. During the eight-hour operation, neurosurgeon Dr. Louis Crevier repaired her skull, while Dr. Borsuk worked to install metal plates to reconstruct her jaw and reconnected her nerves.
Also on the team was Dr. Jenny Lin, a plastic surgeon and scientist whose research focuses on improving repairs to damaged nerves to maximize post-operative functionality. The technique she used to reconnect Vanessa’s nerve fibres was essential to preventing full paralysis.
And then there was physiotherapist Mélanie Sarda, who for a full year afterward helped Vanessa work on her jaw mobility, her neck movements and the elasticity of the skin around the scarring. Weekly follow-up appointments, less-than-pleasant intraoral treatments, exercises every two hours… through all of it, Vanessa persevered. And it paid off. The range of motion in her jaw increased from 17 mm to a very normal 47 mm.
Other professionals involved in Vanessa’s case included an ophthalmologist, an occupational therapist, an orthodontist, a dentist, an ENT, a speech-language pathologist and a psychologist. Because that’s what Sainte-Justine is: a group of highly trained specialists and researchers with a human touch, all of whom work under the same roof to deliver outstanding patient care.
A Grateful Family
The words Dr. Borsuk uses to describe the trauma – a nightmare and a heartbreaking experience – still resonate with Bernard.
“When it dawned on me how serious my daughter’s condition was, my legs went numb. I thought my entire body would give out. Time stood still. It was like we were caught up in a giant whirlwind. Our world came crumbling down all around us.”
Dr. Borsuk was a lifesaver. It was the worst time of our life, but we felt better knowing we were at Sainte-Justine.
But Sainte-Justine was there. A caring, comforting presence, with state-of-the-art facilities that treat most of the province’s severe pediatric trauma cases.
“At Charles-Le Moyne Hospital, where they rushed Vanessa after the accident, they told us right away she’d be transferred to Sainte-Justine. Her condition was too serious. They said we’d get the best plastic surgeon. We knew Sainte-Justine by reputation, and we were aware that all the top specialists were there.” And the team definitely lived up to their reputation. “Dr. Borsuk was a lifesaver. It was the worst time of our life, but we felt better knowing we were at Sainte-Justine.”
A Testament to Resilience
The residual scarring on her cheek belies the enormous amount of work that went into saving Vanessa’s life. It is a mark of survival for someone who has seen the worst of what life has to offer.
Teamwork, drive and determination are all important elements in this story, but at the heart of it is Vanessa herself. She’s the one who endured the pain, who learned how to speak and eat again, and how to live with her new capacities.
Vanessa and other children like her are our inspiration. The reason the caregivers at Sainte-Justine put so much heart into everything they do is because they are inspired by the strength, resilience and positive outlook of the patients they work with.
When Vanessa’s parents came to the hospital to be interviewed for this article, it was the first time they had seen the inside of the new buildings. Their reaction? “Wonderful! But, honestly, we don’t ever want to have to come back here again.”
Never again.
