HUDSON WAS NEARLY VICTIM NO. 12.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``She was in the operating room operating room n. Abbr. OR A room equipped for performing surgical operations. 14 hours that first day and on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of dying more than once. It was a miraculous recovery, and believe me, that's not too strong a term to use here.'' - Dr. Milton Louie, chief of staff, Glendale Memorial Hospital Eleven people died in the Metrolink derailment derailment /de·rail·ment/ (de-ral´ment) disordered thought or speech characteristic of schizophrenia and marked by constant jumping from one topic to another before the first is fully realized. in Glendale last January. Patti Hudson was almost the 12th. But there she was Sunday night, at a party for the staff at Glendale Memorial Hospital - standing nervously at a microphone, dressed in a black gown and high heels, and looking like a million bucks. The 25-year-old Northridge woman pulled a crumpled crum·ple v. crum·pled, crum·pling, crum·ples v.tr. 1. To crush together or press into wrinkles; rumple. 2. To cause to collapse. v.intr. 1. piece of paper from her purse. It bore a message of thanks to the people in this room, but she knew that words alone could not express her feelings. ``I was brought to you all broken and in pain,'' she began. ``With your skill, hard work and heart, you repaired and comforted me. ``I hope in seeing me here tonight, physically fit and happy again, it is enough because words are not enough.'' With that, the more than 100 doctors, nurses and medical support staff gave her a standing ovation. They said later that none of them ever would have expected the badly injured woman wheeled into their emergency room nine months earlier to be standing here in front of them - healthy and happy again. They all thought she'd be victim No. 12. It was a little after 6 a.m. Jan. 26, and Patti Hudson was on her way from her Northridge home to her job downtown as a tech manager at SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. . She was sitting in the front car of a southbound Metrolink train, working on a paper for her political science class at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an . She remembers looking across the aisle at an older man reading the newspaper when all hell broke loose. ``Everything went black, and I woke up in the wreckage of the train,'' she says. ``I knew I was hurt bad. I couldn't move, and I was bleeding a lot. The whole train was torn open, and people were screaming.'' Juan Manuel Alvarez, a 25-year-old man despondent de·spon·dent adj. Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected. de·spon  dent·ly adv. over the breakup of his marriage, had parked his SUV on the Metrolink tracks in an aborted attempt to kill himself, authorities said later. The train carrying Hudson smashed into the SUV and derailed, ramming a Union Pacific freight train parked on a siding, then colliding head-on with a northbound Metrolink train. The pre-dawn crash killed 11 and injured nearly 200 passengers. Alvarez has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of capital murder. More than 130 claims have been filed against Metrolink, including one by Hudson. After rescue workers dug her out of the wreckage, she was taken to the nearest hospital, Glendale Memorial. ``Of all the injured coming in, she was our No. 1 priority because she was the most seriously injured,'' said Dr. Deanna Attai, head of surgery. Hudson had a broken neck and spinal cord spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. damage that threatened to paralyze par·a·lyze v. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. her from the neck down. Her pelvis was crushed, and she had been impaled by wreckage through the abdominal and pelvic areas. During her 14 hours of surgery that first day - with more to follow - she was in constant danger of respiratory failure Respiratory Failure Definition Respiratory failure is nearly any condition that affects breathing function or the lungs themselves and can result in failure of the lungs to function properly. . ``If it hadn't been for her strong body and mind, she could have easily been victim No. 12,'' said Dr. Vahan Cepkinian, who performed surgery on Patti's crushed pelvis after Dr. David Rogers completed spinal surgery. ``I told Patti, if ever there was a poster child for maintaining fitness, you're it,'' Cepkinian said. ``She gave us a great canvas to work with. Being in such great shape saved her life.'' It was a lot of things that saved her from being victim No. 12, Patti says. The half-marathons she runs, and the strict vegetarian diet she follows made her body strong and healthy enough to recover from such a traumatic shock Traumatic shock A condition of depressed body functions as a reaction to injury with loss of body fluids or lack of oxygen. Signs of traumatic shock include weak and rapid pulse, shallow and rapid breathing, and pale, cool, clammy skin. Mentioned in: Wounds . Her husband, Greg Matson, and her seven brothers and sisters gave her support and encouragement during the six weeks she was hospitalized. But, most of all, it was the doctors who repaired her shattered body. So, Sunday night, Patti Hudson put on her best gown and high heels, and stopped by their party looking like a million bucks. She wanted the staff at Glendale Memorial to see her physically fit and happy - because words were not enough. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Patti Hudson, badly injured in January's Metrolink derailment in Glendale, had high praise for Dr. Vahan Cepkinian, left, and Dr. Milton Louie, whose surgery helped save her life at Glendale Memorial Hospital. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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