Athletics
From coma to Comrades
2010-05-29 09:56
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Durban - Four years ago, Wayne Korras was in a coma at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg after being knocked down by a vehicle in Edenvale, Johannesburg. On Sunday, he will run his 16th Comrades marathon.
On March 17, 2006, Korras and a group of athletes from Bedfordview Country Club were out on a Comrades training run in the early hours of the morning when a driver veered off the road and rammed into them. Two athletes - Richard Albrecht and Joe Mendoza - died on impact while a third - Karl Quinn - broke both his femurs. Korras suffered a long list injuries - six broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a left pulmonary contusion, fractures to his radius, ulna, nose, jaw and three vertebrae to name but a few.
However, it was the diffuse axonal injury (DAI), or traumatic brain injury, which put him into a coma for 28 days. According to Wikipedia, over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regain consciousness and those who do wake up, often remain significantly impaired.
His trauma surgeon, for whom he is full of praise, was convinced Korras would be a vegetable if he ever regained consciousness but has since reviewed his approach towards emergency surgery after seeing Korras's miraculous recovery.
But it has not been easy. When he regained consciousness, Korras spent over three months in rehabilitation. During this time he was moved back to the Milpark for more surgery when the pulmonary contusion turned septic and had to be cut open and drained.
A general practioner at the time of the accident, Korras had to learn how to walk, talk, swallow, chew and perform every basic function from scratch and underwent physio and occupational therapy on a daily basis for months.
"I believe some human beings recover more quickly than others and also some divine intervention helped," said Korras.
"It may sound naive but I also think my runner's mentality helped. A runner is constantly pushing himself to the limit and that strong mental discipline was there for me when I needed it most."
While Korras recovered physically, he suffered short term memory loss and was classified by the Health Professions Council as an impaired practitioner, meaning he could no longer make diagnostic or treatment decisions.
But his recovery has been beyond all expectations and, towards the end of last year, he underwent a series of neuro-psychometric tests, lasting four days, after which both his neuro-psychologist and his psychiatrist confirmed there was nothing to indicate why he should not practise medicine again.
In February 2010 his licence was reinstated and Korras is now working two mornings a week at a medical centre in Bedfordview.
On Sunday, the 46 year-old doctor plans to "wipe the slate clean" and is looking to finish in seven hours, which is where he left off before the accident.
His wife Robyn and two daughters, Cailyn and Kelsey, will be waiting at the finish line for their 16th traditional Comrades family photograph.
May the force be with you, Wayne.