Ananya Sen & Valerie Goodwin, Michigan Medicine
What started as an evening of summer fun, soon turned into a nightmare for the Sanders family.
Evan, who was 13 at the time, collided with another rider during a dirt bike outing that left him with multiple fractures across the left side of his body.
“We saw his accident happen in front of us,” said Kimberly Sanders, his mother.
“We ran over and it had looked like he had broken almost every bone on his left side from his eye to his toes. We even had to tourniquet his leg with a belt to stop the bleeding.”
Within an hour of the accident, a University of Michigan Survival Flight helicopter brought Evan to University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital from Jackson County, Michigan.
“Although it was only a 45-minute drive, it felt like hours knowing that Evan was going to reach the hospital before us. The only bright side was that the nurses were amazing, and they took the time to console and assure us that he was going to be safe with them,” Sanders said.
A long road to recovery
Upon his arrival at Mott, Evan’s medical team discovered that Sanders had fractures in his left foot, ankle, leg, wrist and hand.
Over the course of the next few weeks, he underwent 13 surgeries, which involved stabilizing the left side of his body with a rod, plate and pins.
He also needed plastic surgery, which included extensive skin grafts, to cover his wounds and ensure that the antibiotics penetrated deeply enough to prevent any infections.
“I remember meeting with Evan’s family the first night we took him to the operating room. He had sustained multiple different injuries that required the coordinated care of many surgical and non-surgical services within the hospital,” said Noelle Whyte, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Mott.
“The severity of his foot injury raised the question of whether it needed to be amputated. Even though we decided that this was not a necessary course of action, we remained concerned about whether the future growth of his legs would be affected.”
Barney comes to the rescue
Throughout the harrowing process, Evan had support from an unlikely source—a four-legged golden retriever friend named Barney who belongs to the Lipschutz-Danzansky Family Paws4Patients Program within U‑M Health.
The program was initiated in 2016 after research had shown that interacting with therapy dogs lowered anxiety and boosted overall health in patients.
“This program includes seven full-time facility dogs that work throughout our health system. They are trained to check in and assess the people that they are caring for,” said Jessica Doletzky, program coordinator for Paws4Patients.
“When they enter a room, they go to the person that needs the most support—whether it’s a patient or a caregiver. They lean into that person and offer their support.”
For the first few weeks of Evan’s treatment, that person was his mom.
“I never left his side, and it was hard to watch Evan go through all those surgeries. He was on a ventilator the first few times Barney visited, and Barney came to me first because he knew I needed a little love,” Sanders said.
“We have four cats and a dog at home and being away from them was hard. Having that feeling of home brought some comfort in such a difficult time.”
Barney usually works with children who are going through physical therapy.
“He’s a goofy and loving dog. Even when he encourages the kids to move around and play with him, he’s always gentle,” said Heather Meyer, Certified Child Life Specialist and Barney’s handler.
In his daily routine, Barney begins his day by greeting the hospital’s front desk and everyone he meets in the lobby as he makes his way to the patients.
Once he’s in the rooms, Barney carefully climbs on to the patient’s bed and lays down next to them. He can also encourage them to get up and move around through play.
“Barney loves working at the hospital. Since he enjoys cuddles, he loves bed visits where he can lay next to the patients while they’re getting uncomfortable procedures, such as blood draws,” Meyer said.
With Evan, Barney had an additional goal—helping him visit the Survival Flight helicopter.
This experience was particularly challenging for Evan since he had never been in an elevator before and needed to navigate the experience for the first time while being in a wheelchair.
The journey to the helicopter took 20 minutes and required them to use four different elevators.
“Barney was the only reason I agreed to do it. Even though it was uncomfortable, being able to pet him the entire time helped,” Evan said.
When he reached the helicopter, Evan was surprised at how big it was.
“It was a lot bigger than I thought, but surprisingly small on the inside. I think most of the space was for the equipment, so it looked like a closet,” he said.
Barney also shared Evan’s awe, according to Meyer.
He peeked inside the helicopter with Evan and tried to jump in and investigate before he was told to stand down.
Looking forward
Evan spent two months in the hospital following his 2023 accident and has been working with the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team at U‑M Health.
“Evan has had a tough road to recovery, but he has done it with grace and a perpetual smile. I think whatever he has accomplished so far is outstanding considering where we started,” Whyte said.
To mark the end of Sanders’ hospital stay, Barney also accompanied the family through their “Clap Out” parade, where the staff lined the hallways and cheered for them to celebrate the end of their in-patient care and celebrate a new beginning.
Today, he is back to riding his scooter and playing a snare drum as a part of his school’s marching band. He hopes to join the track team in the spring and would like to ride dirt bikes with his older brother soon.
“Our family is forever grateful to everyone who helped us during our two-month stay in the hospital. Whether it was music therapy or the nurses who came in to play video games with Evan, we want to thank everyone we met,” Sanders said. “Heather and Barney will forever be a part of our lives.”
