拉里•平卡斯 is passionate about skiing.
A Brooklyn, New York, native, 平卡斯 started skiing in his 20s and was immediately hooked.
平卡斯, now 68 years old, is a licensed family and marriage counselor in both Utah and Indiana. He calls Indiana home, where he owns and runs a therapy clinic.
Although he spends much of his time far away from the snowy mountains of Utah, his passion for skiing remains intact. From January to April, you won’t find 平卡斯 in Indiana. 而不是, 在过去的四年里, he has spent the first four months of the year living in Salt Lake City, providing virtual care to his clients in Indiana and skiing as many days as possible.
“的 goal is to ski more days than I am old,平卡斯说道.
This year did not disappoint, and he reached his goal of 70 ski days. That was even more impressive considering 平卡斯 broke his wrist on March 1. He only had 35 ski days at that point, and just four days later he was meant to fly to Alaska for a ski trip.
好几个月, 平卡斯, 他的妻子和一个儿子, 和一些家庭朋友一起, had been planning the ski trip of a lifetime. Everyone met up in Salt Lake City to ski at 雀科小鸟 for a few days before heading to Alaska.
“We were skiing at 雀科小鸟 and my friend fell and lost all of his gear in the process,平卡斯说道. “We were on pretty flat terrain, and I reached down to help him scoop up his skis and poles.”
That’s when 平卡斯’ own ski tips crossed, causing him to fall backwards. Instinctively, he held out his right arm to catch himself. Initially, he didn’t think anything was broken.
“I had absolutely no pain whatsoever,” he said. “That made all of us think it wasn’t broken.”
平卡斯 decided to get checked out 在 雪鸟诊所, where he got the news: his wrist was broken.
“I made sure to tell the doctor 在 clinic that I was flying to Alaska in four days for a ski trip,平卡斯说道. “I’m sure I’m not the first skier to say something like that.”
平卡斯手腕骨折, a common injury that occurs when the radius bone breaks near the wrist joint.
Because 平卡斯 was hoping to ski in Alaska just a few days after his injury, the providers 在 雪鸟诊所 recommended that he make an appointment 在 大学骨科中心’s Injury Clinic.
“的y pulled up the injury clinic schedule and booked me for an appointment the day before I was flying to Alaska,平卡斯说道. “的y also put my arm in a temporary splint, so I could rest it and keep things immobilized until my appointment.”
Three days after breaking his wrist, 平卡斯 went to his appointment 在 Orthopaedic Injury Clinic. 乔伊·英格利希，医学博士, happened to be working that night and met with 平卡斯 about his injury.
English is a board-certified emergency medicine and sports medicine physician in the 骨科 在 Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine 在 University of Utah. She also serves as medical director of the Orthopaedic Injury Clinic.
Knowing that 平卡斯 was heading out on a ski trip the following day, English did everything she could to make sure he could stay safe and still enjoy his trip. She recommended that 平卡斯 be fitted for a custom splint instead of a hard cast.
“选角很棒。, but most people prefer a custom splint with hand therapy if their injury will allow for it,英语说. “It’s as good as a cast in many ways, but also better—iIf you have an emergency, 你可以很容易地把它弄下来.”
的 大学骨科中心 houses Utah’s largest hand and upper extremity therapy hand clinic in the Mountain West. 在看过平卡斯的x光片之后, English immediately sent him over to the hand clinic to be fitted for a custom splint. 地点和时间都很完美.
“当博士. English sent me to the hand clinic, it was 5:35 pm,平卡斯说道. “的 hand clinic closed at 6:00 pm, but they were able to take care of me in time.”
Twenty-three minutes after walking into the hand clinic, 平卡斯 walked out with a hard plastic custom splint. 的 next day, he flew to Alaska, where he skied some of the steepest terrain he had ever skied.
“太棒了，”他说. “的 only thing I had to do different was buy an extra-large mitten to fit over the front of the splint.”
平卡斯 was also able to continue skiing for the rest of the season without limitations. Four months post-injury, 平卡斯 is still impressed by the care he received.
“I am just so overwhelmed by the quality of care and integration of care,” he said. “From 雀科小鸟 to the Orthopaedic Center to the hand clinic… 的y met me where I was and gave me suggestions as well as interventions that have helped me to maintain my active lifestyle.”
Although 平卡斯 is currently in Indiana, he continues to crosstrain and stay fit for yet another epic ski season. Come January, you will find him back in Utah, ready to hit 70 more ski days.
