A young man is recounting the heroic efforts of medical teams at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center who cared for him after he suffered traumatic injuries in a motorcycle crash.
Last July, Jeff Mugongo sustained catastrophic injuries to both of his legs after being hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. The collision threw him off, shattering his left leg and breaking the right. Thankfully, say hospdital officials, a helmet and some incredible luck saved the rest of his body from harm. The injuries to his legs were significant and he was rushed to Chandler Regional for trauma care.
A Chandler Regional spokesperson says that injuries from motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents are the leading cause of admission to the hospital’s Level I Trauma Center, which comprises critical/acute care surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic and plastic surgeons, emergency doctors and nurses, radiologists and CT techs. Uniquely, they say, the hospital’s orthopedic and plastic surgeons work as a singular team in the trauma space to provide more effective coordination and care for difficult, traumatic injuries that involve bone and soft tissue.
Mugongo recounted his days in the U.S:
“I was born in Rwanda and first came to the United States as a child refugee in 2010 from a refugee camp in Tanzania. “If I was in the camp when this happened, I would not have survived,” says Mugongo, 26, who learned English, began to excel in school and eventually earned a Bachelor’s degree in social work from Chardon State College in Nebraska before moving here.
An open fracture in Mugongo’s leg and a large soft tissue injury required specialized and reconstructive care from the hospital’s orthoplastics team. Mugongo underwent seven different surgeries to save both legs, and has had countless hours of physical therapy throughout his first year of recovery. Since the accident, Mugongo is walking daily and working out. He’s also working on growing his career, providing motivational speeches about his life experience and using his social work degree to write self-awareness programs that focus on inner strength. He also leads JTS Fitness, an East Valley organization that focuses on providing competitive advantage to young athletes along with guidance and tools to help them become better leaders of tomorrow.
“I am a walking miracle,” says Mugongo
