Mariah Buckman’s car accident changed her life. While driving one day, Mariah overcorrected and was ejected from her vehicle. A healthy 29-year-old at the time of the accident, Mariah suffered serious injuries. These included a splenic laceration, fractures of her wrist, face, and spine, and a degloving injury to her left leg. “It was just so weird,” Mariah reflected. “I just remember looking down at my wrist and seeing my arm broken in so many places.”
Initially, Mariah admitted to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital. She then transferred to St. Vincent in Billings. Mariah required complete removal of her spleen and multiple surgeries to fix all her broken bones. She also had to undergo multiple leg surgeries and a skin graft.
The damage to Mariah’s leg was significant. “When I was laying in the field, they told me that I needed to have a tourniquet placed because I was losing too much blood. The EMT told me that it was going to hurt when he put it on me. But I don’t remember ever feeling him put it on. I was just in so much shock.”
Mariah was uncertain how she could return home with her wounds and manage the broken bones that prevented her from walking. An unstable pelvis fracture required her to be on bed rest for many weeks. Hope came in the form of a liaison from Advanced Care Hospital of Montana. The liaison visited Mariah at St. Vincent and conveyed she could transfer to ACHM for wound care and to begin her healing process. Mariah cried tears of joy at the news. “I am just so happy that I got accepted as a patient,” she said.
Mariah discharged from ACHM after some initial recovery and wound care teaching. “I just want everyone to know how thankful I am to have been here,” she shared. We at ACHM are also thankful Mariah was able to receive the world-class care that we give at ACHM!