Back on Track: A young athlete takes a devastating fall and gets back up - with the help of Children's Specialized Hospital Last April, Omar Shehabeldin, 14, was running for a school bus when he felt a "pop" in his knees and fell - hard. Instead of going to a track meet as he'd planned, he was taken to the Emergency Department at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Both knees appeared to be broken.
In fact, the tendon that connects the patella (kneecap) to the tibia (shin bone) had basically torn off in both legs. The tendons had to be surgically re-attached with a type of hardware that looks like nails.
What had happened to cause such drastic injuries to the athletic Omar, who as a high school freshman was already a standout on the football team?
In fact, his family had long known he had Osgood-Schlatter disease, a not so uncommon cause of knee pain in children. Bones, muscles and tendons change rapidly during growth spurts, and physical activity puts extra stress on them. "It started when Omar was younger," said his mother, Aliaa Gouda. "When he got on the floor to pray with his father, he would complain that his knee hurt. The doctor told us that he would outgrow it, as most children do." Unfortunately, Omar was an exception.
After surgery, Omar was sent to Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick for rehabilitation. "We stayed in close touch with the pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Adolfsen, who wanted to be sure the knee bones and patella had really fused before Omar began to bear weight on his legs," said Michele Fantasia, MD, a specialist in pediatric rehabilitation medicine at Children's Specialized Hospital. "We worked with Omar on upper body and upper extremity training as well as core strengthening, all while he was in a special wheelchair that elevated his legs."
In June, Omar was cleared to walk with braces. In therapy, he began to bend his knees, bit by bit. He was fortunate to have the considerable resources at Children's Specialized, which include recreational therapy activities, water therapy, and a therapy dog named Burton. "Our staff has experience in all developmental stages, and we are equipped with multiple therapeutic modalities," Dr. Fantasia said.
Omar was discharged on June 21, 2018 and continues to go to the hospital for outpatient rehab. "Everybody at that hospital works with so much heart. It is a great place," his mother, Aliaa, said. "In fact, we're going to go back and volunteer to help people there."
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