After a blood-filled cyst on his spine burst in 2010, Dr. Ted Rummel was left paralyzed from waist down. He thought his career as an orthopedic surgeon was over.

Surprisingly, he continues to operate on patients today - but from a stand-up wheelchair.

He returned to his practice following a year of intensive rehab and learning how to use his new chair and getting used to his new way of performing surgery.

"When I'm able to do this and I can get a piece of my life back, it's huge," Dr. Rummel said in an interview. "It's so special."

Dr. Rummel was first diagnosed with a cavernous hemangioma, a blood-filled cyst, on his spine in 2009.

"One of my first thoughts was, 'Oh my gosh, my life as I know it was erased," he said. "Who you are out of the O.R. is gone and you have to redefine yourself."

But when he realized he was able to still be a surgeon, it became his mission to fight back into fitness and regain the ability to operate.

Now, Dr. Rummel is able to operate on patients' hands elbows, feet, and legs from his sitting wheelchair, and uses an upright chair to operate on shoulders.



[DailyNews]