Marion Fowler returned to Chicago to thank the trauma team at Stroger Hospital who saved her life nearly five years ago.
She surprised Dr. Matt Kaminsky, a trauma surgeon, and Dr. Geragd Dysico, a rehabilitation physician, by driving up from her home in Nashville to say thank you in person.
“I wanted to say thank you to my unsung heroes,” said Fowler, now 73 years old.
In April 2018, Fowler was 68 and in Chicago to attend a funeral, when she went out for a walk.
“I didn't even notice the dogs. They just were there all of a sudden,” said Fowler.
Thankfully, a man parked nearby heard Fowler in distress and used his car to break up the attack. Fowler was rushed in an ambulance to Stroger Hospital in bad shape.
“We just had this lady with chunks of tissue gone and we were checking for a pulse. If I recall, we had a very thready pulse,” said Kaminsky, the trauma surgeon who responded that day.
Local
“As a surgeon, usually you put things back together. There was literally no tissue to put back together in her case,” Kaminsky said.
Fowler fought to survive, remaining in the hospital for weeks before being transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
NBC Chicago was there in July 2018, several months later, when she finished her in-patient therapy at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.
“Throughout the stay, she was positive,” said Dr. Gerard Dysico, the rehabilitation physician at Cook County Health who treated Fowler.
“She had such a grace about her, understanding her circumstances,” Dysico said.
While she can’t escape her scars, Fowler’s optimism remains, which is why at age 73, she drove by herself from her home outside Nashville to surprise the team who saved her life.
“I had to learn how to use my hands, use my legs, all over again. Look at me now! By the grace of God,” said Fowler.
“For her to come up and just drop him in and thank us, it was certainly made my day,” Kaminsky said.
“Marion looks great and I’m just really overjoyed to see that she’s here,” Dysico said.