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Jackson Miracle Stories
Jackson Miracle Stories
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Juan Ruiz Cruz
Young Man Recovers after Severe Motorcycle Accident with Help from Therapy at Lynn Rehabilitation Center
When Juan Ruiz Cruz, 35, tries to remember what happened on January 30, 2022, the only thing he can recall is waking up in the hospital.
On that Sunday afternoon, Ruiz got into a severe motorcycle accident.
EMS rushed him to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial with a cracked skull, broken collarbone, broken ribs, broken knee, collapsed lung, and a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
“When I finally woke up in the hospital, I wasn’t even aware of the extent of my injuries,” Ruiz said.
He needed several emergency surgeries to fix his fractures. Ruiz remained heavily sedated at Ryder Trauma for several weeks while recovering before he was transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.
Upon arrival, the rehabilitation team found that Ruiz’s right side was immobile due to a brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves in the shoulder that carries movement and sensory signals from the spinal cord to the arms and hands.
He required intense rehabilitation therapy to regain function in his right shoulder, elbow, and wrist.
At the time, Ruiz could not cut his own food, get dressed, or shower without assistance. However, with occupational therapy, he slowly improved.
By October, with the help of a wrist brace, therapy, and at-home exercises, Ruiz regained significant motion in his right side.
A month later, Ruiz reached a major milestone – he regained all mobility on his right side, and was fully discharged from Lynn Rehabilitation Center.
After discharge, Ruiz found a newfound love for painting. Today, he participates in a peer support group through Lynn Rehabilitation Center’s Recreational Therapy Program.
“Everyone always thinks that painters are artists,” he said. “But after going through this, I realized the real artists are those who save lives every day.”
Gil Macahdo
Man Suffering from Severe Lung Scarring for Three Years Receives Life-Saving Double-Lung Transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute
Spending time with family, boating, working, and exercise were Gilbert Machado’s favorite pastimes – especially cycling around Miami with his wife of 38 years.
However, three years ago, the 63-year-old began to experience cough attacks that were impossible to control.
After seeking care for his cough, Machado was diagnosed with reflux. However, the attacks only got worse with time. One day, while Machado was at UHealth – University of Miami Health System for a sleep study, a doctor noticed his severe cough and looked at his lung scans.
What the doctor found in the scans was severe idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – a disease that causes scarring of the lungs.
After the diagnosis, Machado sought medical treatment at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), an affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth. While being treated, he continued to live his normal life.
After years of treatment and continued lung scarring, Machado reached a point where he could no longer get up on his bike, go into the office for work, or stand for longer than a few minutes.
After the MTI team cleared him for transplantation, Machado was placed on the national organ list. Within 16 days, he received the call that they had found a match.
On October 9, 2022, he underwent a successful double-lung transplant at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Machado spent two weeks recovering at Jackson Memorial and Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial before returning home to his wife, children, and grandchildren.
More than a year later, he feels better than ever – he exercises daily, attends Marlins baseball games, goes to dinner, works part-time, drives, goes boating with his family, and travels.
“I wouldn’t know what to say to the donor family that expresses what they’ve offered me,” Machado said. “Because of them, I was able to spend more time with my family.”
“And the team at MTI and at Jackson – they are the absolute best,” he continued. “I try to tell them each and every chance I get that they make a huge difference.”
Chauncy Koolman
Beach Tennis Player Inspires New Adaptive Sports Programs at Lynn Rehabilitation Center Following Severe Spinal Cord Injury
By: Krysten Brenlla
Chauncey Koolman, 25, has been playing beach tennis for as long as he can remember. As a young athlete, he aspired to pursue a career in professional sports.
However, on October 2, 2023, Koolman’s life took a drastic turn when he was involved in a near-fatal car accident after crashing against the side railing on the expressway. Emergency medical services rushed him to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South with a cervical spinal cord injury.
The spinal cord injury resulted in a partial loss of sensation from the neck down. Ultimately, Koolman was paralyzed in his lower extremities.
After an emergency surgery at Jackson South, Koolman spent one week in the neurosurgical intensive care unit. Once he was discharged from Jackson South, he was transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.
When Koolman first arrived at Lynn Rehabilitation Center, he could not raise his arms over his head or move his hands. He had no mobility in his triceps muscles, was experiencing weakness in his bicep muscles, and was unable to move his fingers.
After a month of rehabilitation therapy, Koolman slowly improved. With physical therapy, he was able to transfer to a wheelchair by himself, gained bicep and triceps muscle mobility, and improved his upper body strength.
Additionally, with occupational therapy, he learned how to dress, bathe, and manage his bladder and bowel movements without additional help.
In addition to gaining mobility in his upper extremities and hands, Koolman learned to roll over in bed, lift up and dip by himself in his wheelchair, and support himself for a long time without any support.
With the help of recreational therapy, Koolman participates in several adaptive sports. Because of his love for beach tennis, he inspired the recreational therapy team at Lynn Rehabilitation Center to open a new pickle ball adaptive sports program for patients.
“There’s nothing I could say to the teams here other than thank you,” Koolman said. “It’s a hard situation, so to get through it and be pushed the way they push you – I’m blessed to have them.”
Jeff and Sara Gammons
Florida storm chaser receives life-saving kidney transplant from wife at Miami Transplant Institute
For Jeffery Gammons, 50, chasing storms and capturing them on camera was his therapy for more than 30 years. However, when his kidney health began to decline, the thrill of the chase was put on hold.
In the early 2000’s, Jeff developed a kidney infection that landed him in the hospital, which is when he discovered he was living with only 30 percent kidney function.
By 2004, his kidneys completely failed. He needed dialysis, and eventually a kidney transplant, to survive.
On April 12, 2009, Jeff received his first transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), an affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth – University of Miami Health System.
“I got 13 years out of that kidney,” he said. “I was healthy that entire time; I was blessed with my son, and found my wife, Sara, with that transplant. Life was good for me.”
Nevertheless, in 2020, Jeff started to experience issues with the transplanted kidney. By the end of 2022, he started planning for another transplant.
In April 2023, Jeff went to MTI to begin his initial evaluation. His wife, Sara, applied to be his donor. To their surprise, Sara was a perfect match.
After several months of tests and preparation, the Gammons received the call they were waiting for – the transplant procedure was scheduled for September 19, 2023.
Both surgeries were successful, and after a few days in the hospital, they were discharged with minimal pain.
“There’s a huge weight that’s been lifted. We have our life back,” Sara said.
“I owe it all to Sara, and the teams at Jackson and at MTI, for this second chance at life,” Jeff said.
Carlos Andres Escobar
44-year-old Hialeah man who suffered a life-threatening heart attack saved at Jackson West Medical Center
After a lifetime of smoking cigarettes, Carlos Andres Escobar, 44, experienced a nightmare scenario.
In the late morning hours on March 16, Escobar started to feel chest pain, but didn’t think much of it. Four hours later, the pain intensified and spread from his chest to his arms. In that moment, Escobar knew he was suffering from a heart attack.
His family rushed the Hialeah native to the emergency room at Jackson West Medical Center. Fortunately, just 10 days prior to Escobar’s life-altering heart attack, Jackson West’s team was fully equipped to stabilize and treat him, due to their latest ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) accreditation.
The team immediately stabilized Escobar, and rushed him to the catheterization lab to perform an emergency cardiac catheterization to examine his heart. The procedure led to the cardiac team placing a stent – a small mesh tube used to hold open weakened or narrowed blood vessels in the heart– to establish proper blood flow.
After an hour-long procedure, Escobar’s pain was almost entirely gone, and he felt strong and energized. He spent one day in Jackson West’s intensive care unit for observation, and two days on a regular floor, before going home with minimal pain.
Today, Escobar feels better than ever. He has returned to work, is following a strict diet, and has promised to quit smoking so he can enjoy more healthy years with his wife and daughter. He credits the team at Jackson West for their life-saving care.
“My family and I are extremely grateful to the teams at Jackson West for all of their attention,” Escobar said. “They kept me informed and calm. I knew I was in the best hands. They saved my life.”
Doug Allen
Two cardiac arrests left Florida Keys man almost paralyzed, saved at Ryder Trauma at Jackson South and Lynn Rehabilitation Center
Doug Allen, 69, loved playing music. When he was not performing at different gigs across the Florida Keys, he and his wife, Sheila Allen, lived a quiet life on the beach with their dog.
Shortly after returning from a walk with his dog, Allen started feeling pain in his chest.
As emergency medical services was transporting him to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, he suffered a cardiac arrest. Moments after arriving at Ryder Trauma, his heart started beating again. However, he suffered a second cardiac arrest.
Allen was diagnosed with an aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the aorta – the main artery that delivers blood from the heart to the body. He was then rushed to the catheterization lab for an emergency stent insertion to repair the tear.
Because of the aortic dissection, Allen also suffered from a spinal stroke, causing him to lose all function in his spinal cord nerves, which led to the loss of feeling in his legs.
He was later transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial.
While mobility was Allen’s biggest challenge, he drastically improved after just one week of physical and occupational therapy.
After two weeks of hard work, Allen progressed from walking short distances to tolerating longer distances with less assistance. He also reached a major milestone – just one day before discharge, he climbed up and down 22 steps – a task that was nearly impossible for him to do.
He’s grateful to the entire Jackson medical teams for saving his life, and giving him the chance to live it at its full potential.
“Everyone was so professional and inspiring,” Allen said. “They made you feel like you could talk to them and trust them – it was excellent care the entire time.”