TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — Medical professionals call it miraculous. Ric Yambura calls it a blessing. Standing on the dance floor of his bar 'Dallas Bull' on a Thursday morning, I asked Yambura if he ever had doubts he would be able to stand again.
"Yeah, when I was practically paralyzed for a few weeks when I came to was kind of an eye-opening experience. And I would never want to relive that for sure. I'm so blessed to be able to somewhat stand here and limp around. I'm actually grateful for that opportunity.," he answered.
On November 19, at 3:42 a.m., Yambura was headed home from work on I-75. A Lexus, driving the wrong way, crashed head-on into his truck. His truck spun into the median and then burst into flames.
"I was in the hospital for four months. I was unconscious in the ER for roughly about two weeks, had multiple procedures done, and just trying to come back to it," he said.
An off-duty officer saw the crash and immediately jumped into action to help Yambura.
He was taken to the trauma unit at St. Joseph's Hospital. Nikki Diaz-White, with the hospital, says that officer was the first step in a long process to save his life.
"It's nothing short of miraculous. It really is. Ric's case from sort of start to finish, you know, with him getting in this accident and having an off-duty officer on site that found him and was able to sort of provide a rescue to him," she said. "From that moment on, him getting in here quickly. He was in our ER a total of two hours before getting up to surgery, and the plethora of resources that we were able to do and get him tanked up to be able to survive a 10-hour surgery is fantastic."
There was a lot of blood loss. Before surgery, the team had to do a massive blood transfusion.
"With massive injuries like that, you lose a lot of volume, meaning you have a lot of blood loss. So essentially, what was amazing with the trauma team working together with the trauma surgeon, the ED physician, is that within 12 minutes, we were able to fully resuscitate him with six units of red blood cells, six units of plasma and platelets," she explained.
Yambura's injuries were extensive. He had traumatic injuries in the lower right side of his body: a femur fracture, a shattered pelvis, a fractured foot, a fractured hand, a broken nose, and every single rib broken. But Diaz-White says the internal damage was even more concerning.
"What is even more amazing is that he suffered a shear injury to his diaphragm. And what that means is that all of his internal organs that are held within the abdominal area had shifted and were literally up into his chest cavity," she added.
She says with cases like this, where the injuries are severe and time is of the essence, knowing your role inside the the emergency room or operating room is key.
"We use an algorithm in trauma so that we work, regardless of injury, we work every trauma essentially the same way. And what that allows our team to do is use muscle memory. It allows them to critically think in a very quick manner. It allows them to develop teamwork in such a way that sometimes they don't even have to speak to each other. They know what everybody's set role is. And that's what the team came together to do," she said.
In Yambura's case, it was a long road, seemingly reconstructing his body. Diaz-White says it took a team of three surgeons, all focusing on different areas at one time in the first surgery alone.
Now, Yambura is walking with the assistance of a cane. Although there's still pain and discomfort, his recovery inspires his team of medical professionals.
"I'm still recovering, still walking with a cane, still limping. But with the encouragement from my friends and family, you know, I feel like I'm getting a little better each week. But it's not easy. You know, standing is uncomfortable. Sitting is uncomfortable. Laying is uncomfortable. So I have to just find the right mix between those three," he said.
"To survive that type of surgery with that many injuries and have the perseverance and the ability and the dedication to go on and say I want to recover from, this avoiding infections. You know, getting up back to ambulating everyday, doing the work with physical therapy and occupational therapy, to get to where he is today that really needs to be attributed to him and his dedication to surviving and getting better," said Diaz-White.
Yambura explained the hard work he's put in to be in his shoes today.
"It's just a lot of PT, it's a lot of stretching, you know, move as much as I can. The doctors basically told me, 'Hey, try to get back to a normal life. You know, get back to work, even if it's just for an hour or two each night'. if I can walk around just get a little bit better, mentally and physically," he said.
Just weeks ago, he returned to work at Dallas Bull. He's taking it slow for now, working a few hours on Fridays and Saturdays.
In December, we told you about the fundraisers and well-wishes his team, and the patrons of Dallas Bull sent his way.
Yambura said that was also medicine for him.
"The support from friends, family, and co-workers was just tremendous. I didn't expect how truly loved it was until after this event. It can kind of bring a tear to your eye when you really think about coming back and how many people are wishing my success and wishing my speedy recovery. And the amount of outreach that has poured out to me is it's been pretty wonderful," he said.
From unconscious to unconquered, stories like Yambura's are what keep Diaz-White going.
"It's cases like this that refill your cup, so to speak. We don't always have amazing outcomes like this. But it makes all the training, all the mock traumas that we do, all the extra extensive education that we do. The difficult times, this is all what makes it worth it," she said.
I asked Yambura what he had to say to the team that worked so hard to save his life. He answered with immense gratitude.
"Obviously, the good Lord kept me around. But the medical staff did a tremendous job. I don't have a negative word to say about anybody from St. Joseph's. I invite them all out, please come have a drink on me, come line dance on me. I'd love to hug them. You know, I'm now capable of hugging. So I'd love to give a few of them a hug," he said.
I also asked him what he would say to the driver responsible for the crash. His answer was one strength.
"I hope maybe one day we could get together. I'd love to give him forgiveness if he asked for it," he said.
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