Margaret Rowland was having a delightful time with her siblings on a beautiful spring day. They had purchased flowers in the afternoon, prepared some of their mother’s favorite recipes for dinner and caught up with friends over cake and coffee. But throughout the day she kept smelling a strange odor and could not shake the feeling that something was not quite right.
A gas leak had been building up under her sister’s house for three days. A spark created an explosion so intense the force pushed Margaret into another room of the house. It was dark, her glasses had fallen off and she was covered in debris. She was terrified and knew she was in danger.
She recalls thinking, “Is this it? Am I dying? Is this how I’m going out?”
That’s when her journey to Parkland began. The first responders on the scene heard Margaret’s screams for help and ran into the severely damaged house to rescue her. She was removed from the rubble and air-lifted to the Rees-Jones Trauma Center at Parkland – the first Level I trauma center in Texas – where she would receive the highest level of trauma care available.
While the details of those first hours are hard for her to recall, she remembers one thing very clearly. She knew her right leg was gone.
“I was so thankful to be alive but so afraid of what was going to happen,” said Margaret. “When I realized the extent of the injuries I would lay there and think ‘How am I going to work, drive and take care of myself?’ I didn’t want to be dependent on anyone. I knew I had to find the strength to fight and figure out how to ride this rodeo out.”
Over the next four weeks Margaret endured five surgeries. Her comprehensive care included meeting with a psychologist to talk through the traumatic experience she had suffered. And a team of physical therapists helped her learn to maneuver from her bed and into a wheelchair. As the days progressed she started driving her wheelchair faster and faster down the hallway and credits her entire care team, led by Ashoke Sathy, MD, for her recovery.
“Parkland is definitely the number one trauma hospital,” said Margaret. “It is amazing what they do and how well trained they are. Never did I have any of them make me feel uncomfortable, and I know that every one of them had my best interests at heart. I remember so many good moments with everybody.”
Today Margaret wears a prosthesis on the lower half of her right leg. And she has found the strength to do all of the things she worried she would never do again – drive a car, walk down the street, and be the grandmother she was before that tragic night.
“My fight was to be that go-to grandmother again,” said Margaret. “I love being able to pick them up from school, take them out to eat, have them spend the night, take them to a movie. My grandkids mean everything to me.”
She adds, “From the bottom of my heart I thank everyone at Parkland. You gave me a second chance. My life was saved and I’m me again.”
Her story was featured at the inaugural ‘Evening for Heroes’ event to illustrate the lifesaving care, expertise and ongoing therapies happening at Parkland and the impact first responders and caregivers have on the patients whom they care for and serve.
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