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Cover Story: Ben Bordelon
The Ties That Bind
Ben Bordelon reflects on a life-changing accident and thefriendship that resulted
By Anne Paglia | Photos: Daymon Gardner
When Ben Bordelon first met Stephen Ramee, MD, in 2011, Ben had just been airlifted to Ochsner Health in near-critical condition. Dr. Ramee greeted Ben, Ben’s best friend Dino Chouest and the AirMed team on the helicopter pad before escorting Ben to the emergency room.
Ben Bordelon, President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards
Photo Credit: Daymon Gardner
“This big, tall, gray haired guy comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, I’m Dr. Ramee. Are you friends with Dino?’” Ben recalled. “I said, ‘Yep.’ He said, ‘Well, good, I’m gonna take care of you.’”
Dr. Ramee, Medical Director of the Structural and Valvular Heart Center at Ochsner, strives to treat all of his patients like family, as demonstrated by his relationship with Ben. He recalled their first encounter similarly. A longtime friend of Ben’s godfather, “Uncle” Gary Chouest, Dr. Ramee received a call right after Ben was taken to the hospital.
“Immediately upon Ben’s accident—in the middle of the night—Gary called me to say he was being airlifted from the bayou to New Orleans,” Dr. Ramee said. “I immediately jumped into the car and headed to Ochsner so that I would be there when Ben arrived.”
Despite having just met Ben that day, Dr. Ramee promised to guide him through every step of treatment. Looking back on the experience 12 years later, Ben sees Dr. Ramee not only as his head coach, directing the team that would lead him to recovery, but also as a friend and guardian angel. “He said, ‘I’m gonna make sure you’re taken care of. I know a lot of people here,’” Ben recalled. “And that was the start of our relationship.”
“When I shared with Ben that I was a cardiologist, he looked at me with big eyes and said, ‘I don’t need a cardiologist—I need an orthopedic surgeon!’” Dr. Ramee added. “Needless to say, a beautiful friendship was born.”
A fateful February night
Born and raised in Louisiana, and a graduate of LSU, Ben returned to the area after playing professional football for the San Diego Chargers. His life after football looked more routine: he married, had kids and started a career in the shipbuilding business. In his spare time, he enjoyed hunting. Ben had frequented the same hunting camp since he was a child, driving up the dirt road and over the small bridge that led to the camp countless times.
February 2009 was no different. Ben spent a day hunting with friends, and stayed behind to lock the gate after everyone left. “We drew straws on who was going to close it,” Ben said. “I drew the short straw that night.”
After locking up, Ben began the drive home. “I was probably going too fast when I came upon the bridge,” he said. “My buddy Charles was on the phone, and had stopped in the middle of the dirt road in his truck. I had to either hit him or go around him. I decided to go around him.”
As Ben maneuvered around Charles, his truck hit tractor ruts in the road and flipped. Ben was ejected through the vehicle’s side window. After a brief period of unconsciousness, he woke up under his truck, staring at his transmission. His leg was stuck under the rim of one of the wheels.
When Ben’s friend couldn’t find him, he phoned the rest of their hunting group to come back and search. After locating him, they called an ambulance—but even the first responders didn’t know how to free him from the truck. “Fortunately, I got some big friends,” Ben said. “They lifted up the truck just enough and slid me out.”
— Ben Bordelon
The road to recovery
When Ben arrived at Ochsner St. Anne in Raceland, La., the emergency room doctor was waiting for him.. After taking several scans and doing an examination, the doctor identified a number of injuries, including a punctured lung, multiple fractured ribs, broken shoulder blades and a broken spine and pelvis. It was clear that Ben needed intensive care— and with his wife, Gemi, at his in-law’s house in north Louisiana, his mother had to decide whether to transfer him to another hospital.
With advice from Charles’s father, an obstetrician who delivered all three of Ben’s kids, Ben’s mother decided to move Ben to Ochsner’s main campus.
“My 16-year-old son had a complication when he was born,” Ben said. “We had to AirMed him to the NICU. That was my introduction to Ochsner as an adult.”
As fate would have it, Ben was also airlifted to Ochsner—and when he arrived, Dr. Ramee was waiting. That night marked the beginning of a long stay at the hospital with Gemi by his side as his main caregiver. Ben developed pneumonia due to his punctured lung, delaying other necessary procedures. Once he recovered, Ben was ready to undergo pelvic surgery, and was also treated for road rash, broken ribs, a broken sternum and blood clotting—the latter addressed by Dr. Ramee. Finally, after seven weeks, Ben was discharged from the hospital and started physical therapy—only to find himself back at Ochsner’s main campus twice with blood clotting issues.
Stephen Ramee, MD, Medical Director of the Structural and Valvular Heart Center at Ochsner
Photo Credit: Daymon Gardner
“Ben was not in great shape when he arrived at Ochsner, but after multiple surgeries, many months in the ICU and many more months of physical therapy, he was on the path to recovery,” Dr. Ramee said.
In physical therapy, Ben had to overcome nerve issues in his right leg, which stopped working properly and required him to use a cane. But eventually, Ben rounded the corner on his recovery. “One day my leg started working again and physical therapy ramped up dramatically,” he said.
Dr. Ramee helped him through many challenges of recovery. Like Ben, Dr. Ramee liked to exercise and keep active. Ben’s back pain was initially overshadowed by his other ailments, but after starting therapy, he noticed it more. While Ben was considering surgery, Dr. Ramee advised him to simply develop his core strength. Skeptical, Ben started doing kettlebell workouts, planks and other core exercises.
“Two weeks later, my back doesn’t hurt—what the heck?” Ben laughed. “Even to this day, my back still hurts sometimes, but it’s typically when I’m being lazy. It’s an alarm clock to exercise and take care of myself.”
Focus on family
After a year of physical therapy, Ben was finally recovered. Today, he jokes that the accident itself was the only thing that went wrong. “After that, I had the best care possible,” he said. “I’m about as normal as I could be for a 48-year-old man who played football and was in a car accident.”
While over a decade has passed, Ben often thinks about the accident. “I came back and looked at my young kids and thought, ‘Geez, that was close.’ It definitely made me reconsider some of my thoughts, commitments and how I spend my time. From a long-term standpoint, it’s made me appreciate my family and friends a lot more. I’m probably a little kinder with some of my comments, too,” he laughed.
Ben savors the moments he can spend with his family. He’s watched his children follow in his footsteps: his oldest son plays football at LSU, his younger son recently signed to the team and his daughter is preparing to graduate and enroll in law school. “I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to see all of that,” Ben said.
He’s also grateful for his wife, Gemi, who was there every day of his recovery. “It definitely brought us closer together and in many regards made our marriage a lot stronger,” he said. “I feel blessed every day that I’m here and able to do the things we do.”
Ben Bordelon and Stephen Ramee, MD
Photo Credit: Daymon Gardner
A lasting bond
Ben and his family remain extremely grateful to Dr. Ramee for the guidance he offered during Ben’s treatment and recovery. “There’s no question that my life wouldn’t be the same if he wasn’t in it,” Ben said. “I might not even be here, who knows. That was our beginning bond, and then we just continued the relationship after that.”
The pair still keep in touch to this day, calling and texting every so often to catch up. “Even though he is a very busy businessman and family man, Ben calls me on the anniversary of his accident every year to thank me,” Dr. Ramee said. “He knows he can call me anytime he, his family or his employees need anything medical and that I am willing and able to help him.”
— Stephen Ramee, MD
Ben and his family also show their gratitude by annually supporting the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute through a sponsorship for the Red Tie Affair.
“Over the course of my career, I have had a front seat to the power philanthropy can play in transforming the way we deliver health care to our heart patients,” Dr. Ramee said.
For Ben, the accident reinforced that life always brings challenges. The key to overcoming them is hard work, perseverance and having a goal that makes the tough times worthwhile. “In football, you go through a lot of pain,” Ben said. “You ask yourself: is this worth it? You learn how to push yourself to a different level than others.”
While Ben’s football days are behind him, this mentality remains. “It was a challenging time but I never once thought I wouldn’t get better,” he said. “I didn’t really have an option: I had three young kids. I was really hitting my stride in work and was ready to get back home. It was just a matter of overcoming all the obstacles.”
Reflecting on his days in physical therapy, Ben remembered walking on a treadmill in a harness. He told his trainer he’d be running soon. When he did, the trainer laughed. “He said, ‘Well, you definitely proved me wrong!’” Ben recalled.
Dr. Ramee, on the other hand, remembers Ben’s composure over the course of his treatment. “Ben is one of the most stoic and brave men I have ever met,” he said. “He faced his injuries and recovery with the confidence and steadfastness of a man who believes in a higher power. Ben and his family and friends are the reason that I became a physician many years ago. I derive so much more from our relationship than I give because they are such a loving and giving family.”
While Ben’s treatment is long over, he emerged from it with a lifelong friend, a renewed perspective on life, and an appreciation for the team that helped him get back on his feet and home to his family.
“Sometimes the accident seems close and sometimes it seems really far away, but it’s a great success story of a misfortunate situation,” Ben said. “Having world-class care, treatment and team members at Ochsner—I’ll always and forever be grateful for that.”
