1. Santanna’s incredible journey
4:20 p.m. 400
24-year old Santanna and her mother-in-law had just
finished installing a set of holiday flower arrangements
Santanna’s accident
at a client’s house. As they left they collided with another happened on a rural gravel
car. Though both vehicles were badly damaged, no one road – the 8th Concession.
was seriously injured. Nobleton
5:00 p.m. 404
As they waited for the police to turn up, Santanna’s
husband and her father-in-law arrived. Without warning, 49 kilometres on
Ontario’s busiest
Vaughan
another car cleared the corner, slid on the ice and spun. highways took
It was followed by a black truck that swerved to avoid 37 minutes. 400
the car. It too struck the ice, hit Santanna and tossed her
through the air. The truck then ran over her and dragged
Santanna about four metres before it came to rest, with 401
her buried in the snow under its rear wheels.
407
Santanna recalls: “The last thing I remember is being
underneath the truck and having Dan dig me out. He was Sunnybrook’s exceptional
trauma team was waiting
crying and freaking out. I said, ‘I love you’, and ‘goodbye’,” for Santanna’s arrival.
recalls Santanna. “I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
Toronto
5:12 p.m. 401
Dr. Valerie Krym was outside, cleaning snow off the
steps of their house when her husband telephoned.
He is the Medical Director at ORNGE, the transport
medical service provider for the province of Ontario, 6:03 p.m.
and was on duty in ORNGE’s Communication Centre Santanna arrives at Sunnybrook. But her fight was far from
that evening. He’d heard about the crash and called over, as told by Dr. Doreen Yee, the trauma team leader
home to check on his wife. who directed Santanna’s care that night. Santanna’s injuries
were so severe, the health care team didn’t think she would
By now it was dark. The ORNGE helicopter did not live. “The injuries were clearly horrific and life threatening.
land at the scene because these landings are not safe to She’d lost more than half her blood.”
do at night, and there wasn’t a nearby helipad or airport
available. A land ambulance was dispatched and already Santanna’s heart stopped while she was in the CT scanner.
en route to the scene. “When people’s hearts stop because of blood loss, it is not easy
to get them back,” says Dr. Yee. The team did CPR and gave
Dr. Krym, an emergency physician at Sunnybrook, Santanna epinephrine to keep her alive and rush her up
walked to the end of her long driveway. The crash scene to the OR. “I had an excellent trauma team that night, we
was a kilometre away and Dr. Krym’s car was in the shop, were a well-oiled machine,” she says. “Dr. Krym made a good
but because there were so many emergency vehicles on decision to bring Santanna to Sunnybrook and not waste
the scene she decided to walk there. time going to one of the smaller hospitals that might not have
had the resources to help her,” says Dr. Yee.
5:18 p.m.
Dr. Krym arrives and surveys Santanna’s injuries. Santanna’s pelvis was crushed. The doctors amputated her
It becomes apparent that Santanna’s life is hanging left leg above the knee and performed a through-the-knee
by a thread. amputation on her right leg. But she is alive.

2. Santanna’s hero: Dr. Valerie Krym
Dr. Valerie Krym, Emergency Staff Physician, Sunnybrook.
“I’ve done this work for years and Santanna was the most critical
patient that I’d ever seen in many years. The nursing staff at
Sunnybrook will tell you the same. This woman is alive today due
to a miraculous set of circumstances and excellent trauma care.”
Santanna says:
“With injuries like mine, you have to get to hospital within
30 minutes. They were going to go to the local community
hospital, which doesn’t have a trauma centre but Dr. Krym said
for the ambulance to go to right to Sunnybrook and she would
deal with any other consequences.
Thank God she did that and she had a trauma team there for me
all set up and ready to go. In the ambulance, I kept asking her
if I was going to die and she said ‘not on her watch’. She stayed
and watched all the surgery, and she came after, when I was more
stabilized and saw me every couple of days and checked on me.” Dr. Krym visits Santanna at Sunnybrook
“She is definitely my hero. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.”
Santanna’s hero: Dr. Doreen Yee
Dr. Doreen Yee, Sunnybrook’s trauma team
leader who directed Santanna’s care that night.
“The truth is they probably would have taken
Santanna to the closest hospital that night if
Dr. Krym wasn’t there and she probably wouldn’t have survived.”
Sunnybrook has a lot of experience in trauma; it is very resource
intense, it requires a lot of equipment as well as staff expertise
in every aspect of care. We are ready 24 hours a day to treat
the critically ill. Our trauma teams can be mobilized to treat
anything within 20-30 minutes of receiving a call.
Sunnybrook has been able to recruit the best trauma staff for our
facility, people who are passionate and dedicated to their work.
They see it as a challenge and not a burden.”
Santanna with her husband Dan
Santanna says:
“I died twice on the table due to blood loss. It was nine hours
before they could stabilize me. The care at Sunnybrook was “After everything they gave me
amazing. Dr. Yee and the rest of the doctors were amazing.
All the nurses were amazing. They were right on top of things. back, I’d give anything I can
If something went wrong they were right there and they knew
exactly what to do. They were awesome.” to help them.”