Fact Action, Coordinated Care Student from Norway Survives Brain Hemorrhage

Making new friends, playing football, experiencing another country… Magnus Fenes expected that and more in his year as an exchange student in Devils Lake, N.D. But a life-threatening medical emergency?

“No way,” said the 17-year-old from Norway. “I never pictured that…”

Sudden, intense pain

Fenes was weightlifting at Devils Lake (N.D.) High School on Nov. 3, 2011, when intense pain struck between his temples. He staggered to the locker room. Two friends followed.

“I was lying on the floor feeling terrible,” recalled Fenes. “One friend ran to the principal’s office while the other stayed with me and put a towel around my head. I’ll never forget that. So many people helped me that day -- many I didn’t even know. The last thing I remember was an oxygen mask going over my face in the ambulance.”

A dire situation

When host father Dave Schnaidt arrived at Mercy Hospital in Devils Lake, he was shocked to learn Fenes was near death.

The doctor suspected a ruptured blood vessel, prompting an immediate brain CT scan and a call to Sanford LifeFlight in Fargo.

“The rupture was in the worst possible place,” said Schnaidt, a catch in his voice. “That young man was part of our family.”

Rapid, well-coordinated care

When the Sanford LifeFlight team arrived in Devils Lake, they knew time was critical. Flight nurse Jeff Iverson was part of the team. “In this type of emergency, there’s just a small window of time to get the patient to a neurosurgeon,” he said.

The fast return to Fargo set the stage for a six-hour surgery performed by Sanford neurosurgeon Dr. Jon Hutchison and team. They identified and treated an arteriovenous malformation -- a “tangle” of thin-walled blood vessels that can rupture and bleed into the brain. Fenes was likely born with the AVM, and the strain of weightlifting likely caused the rupture.

“The prompt, well-coordinated care was key,” said Dr. Hutchison. “All came together perfectly, beginning at the high school.”

Hard work, great progress

After two weeks of healing in Sanford Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Fenes graduated to Sanford Rehab. Every day he put 110 percent into hours of intensive occupational, physical and speech therapy. Rehab nurse Brad Arett noticed his impressive progress.

“It still amazes me,” said Arett. “Here’s this 17-year-old kid in a hospital thousands of miles from home going through a really challenging experience and English wasn’t even his first language. Plus he was always so friendly and outgoing.”

Healthy and strong

Fenes completed his school year in Devils Lake and in June returned to Norway. Today he looks forward to pursuing a career in engineering.

Said his birth mom, Ann Paulsen: “We’re so grateful he was in North Dakota when he had this emergency. If this had happened in the remote area where we live in Norway, he would not have made it. He could not have reached the care he needed in time.”

A serious emergency … a chain of care … a young life saved. [AWM]