TRAUMA CHAMPION
Timeline to overcoming tragedy On Feb. 8, 2021: Willie and Kim Mohlman Orthopedic trauma surgeon Alesha and their three-year-old daughter, Aella Scott, DO, of Bryan Trauma fixed Willie’s Grace, left their home in Red Cloud to pick up open tibial shaft fracture and ankle fractures. semitruck parts in Hastings. Because the tibia broke through Willie’s skin, Snow was falling and at midday, the wind it put him at risk of infection and possible chill was below zero. In their warm car, the amputation. But he responded well. Mohlmans had no warning that these would Dr. Scott admires the physical and be their last minutes together as a family. emotional strength Willie showed, recovering On a highway between Red Cloud and more quickly than anticipated while grieving Blue Hill, a car in the opposite lane attempted his wife and worrying about their children at to pass a snowplow and struck the Mohlmans’ home: son Tanner Land, 10, and daughters car head on. The other vehicle’s driver was Audrey Joe, 5, and Aella Grace, now 4. killed in the crash. “The fact that Willie always looks Twenty-nine-year-old Kim, Willie’s wife forward, looking to move ahead, leaves an Willie Mohlman, surrounded by his children of six years and mother of three, also did not Tanner Land, Audrey Joe and Aella Grace, continimpression on all of us every time he visits survive the day. the clinic,” Dr. Scott says. ues to heal from physical and emotional injuries Aella Grace was bruised but all right. following a car crash that claimed his wife, Kim. In April, after two months in Lincoln Willie, on the other hand, would fight for his hospitals, Willie returned home. He was 50 life in the hours and days ahead. It was a battle he eventually won. pounds lighter and still working to bear weight on his legs. At every Nine months after the crash, 33-year-old Willie’s back on his feet. step, family members lightened his burdens, from his mother sitting bedside in the hospital to his in-laws taking care of the children in his His journey back absence. His brother moved in with Willie to help care for the family. “I’ve healed faster than I thought I would. But I had great care, great friends and great family helping me. You just do what you can to stay Stays thankful positive and to physically recover,” he says. But there were some trials Willie faced alone. The accident scene the Red Cloud ambulance squad came upon “I struggled to accept my limitations at times,” he says. And no that day was horrific, one EMT recalls. The weather forced responders to amount of help could fill the chasm that opened up with the loss of choose between removing Willie from the smashed front portion of the Kim. The well-being of his young children was a strong motivator. “My car to prevent hypothermia or leave him exposed to frigid temperatures mindset was: I have three kids who need their dad,” Willie points out. “I while they stabilized his neck and spine. They extricated Willie and can’t just lay down and quit — although there were days I wanted to.” called Hastings Fire and Rescue to meet them en route. He worked instead, pushing himself to regain mobility and return That put in motion the statewide trauma system that saved Willie’s to work. By July he could climb in and out of tractors and return to work life. as a truck driver. The Hastings EMTs stabilized Willie’s lower extremities and noted Today, he feels better physically than he expected. When the abnormality of his left chest. The trauma team at Mary Lanning weather changes, he feels it in one ankle and has a deep ache in his Memorial Hospital in Hastings was in place when Willie arrived. right leg. “You just take Tylenol and keep going.” They also spotted the asymmetry of Willie’s chest and were alarmed That’s the one thing he hopes his children take away from this that he complained of chest pain rather than about his broken leg tragic, upside-down year. “Don’t ever give up — keep going and know and dislocated ankles. An X-ray pinpointed the cause — a ruptured that the next day isn’t promised. Always hug your loved ones.” diaphragm. The team intubated Willie and summoned an air ambulance Willie is figuring out this new version of normal that still feels to transport him to Bryan’s Level 2 Advanced Trauma Center. wrong. But he is here, healing, and grateful for the medical teams who Willie arrived in Lincoln with a weakened pulse. “He was starting saved him. to spiral a little bit down the trauma cascade,” says surgeon Brad Kuhn, “All the times I’ve thanked them can never be enough,” he says. n MD, of Bryan Trauma, which is part of the Bryan Physician Network. He To watch a video about the Mohlman family, go to and two other surgeons repaired Willie’s injuries; Willie survived but still bryanhealth.org/traumachamps. To find out how you can faced multiple orthopedic surgeries. VIDEO support the work of Bryan Health, call 402-481-8605.
This story is brought to you by Inpatient Physician Associates.
Bryan Journeys 11
