Baby crushed by SUV thrives
Unique case shows excellence of Stony Brook staff

By DEBORAH A. MILES
The accident happened 16 months ago — when a 2 1/2-year-old toddler named Bobby Palange was unintentionally run over by a Dodge Durango driven by his dad.

The heartbreak occurred on a snowy 2005 Presidents’ Day in Bellport, when Robert Palange was backing the family’s SUV out of the driveway. He thought Bobby was in the house.

TEAMWORK — PEF nurses Kimberly Fenster and Mary Zegers are part of the team at SUNY Stony Brook that saved Bobby Palange. — Photo by Jeanne Neville, Media Services, Stony Brook University Hospital

Palange felt a bump under the left tire, and thought it was a pile of snow. Then he felt another bump under the front tire. A blind spot had prevented him from seeing his son.

He stopped. Within moments, the reality hit of what had just happened – tires crushing Bobby’s head. That turned a quiet morning into one filled with screams, blaring sirens, urgency and prayer.

The emotional trauma of that day still haunts Bobby’s mother, Kim Palange.

When you speak to her about the accident and the following months when her tiny son survived two surgeries involving bone removal and bone replacement in Bobby’s skull, she becomes reflective.

“When you almost lose a child, there is a part of you that is gone. You look at life differently, and appreciate life a lot more,” she said. “My son will forget. I still feel like a piece of me is gone. Maybe, in time, I’ll get that back.”

Staffing matters
Bobby’s mother is sure about one thing — the medical staff at Stony Brook University Hospital where her son was hospitalized.

“Thank God, they have the staff they do,” she said. “The level of care Bobby received was excellent. A lot of people worked together. Had they been short-staffed, Bobby wouldn’t be here.

Many of those in the army of medical experts who took care of Bobby are PEF members. Photo 2006 Newsday, Inc. Used with permission.

Ian Mauro, a paramedic, was one of the first on the scene. He stabilized Bobby’s cervical spine for transport and opened his airway to assist his breathing.

“After 13 years of being a flight medic, I’ve seen a lot. You learn to just focus on the patient,” he said.
Bobby was taken to the nearest hospital — Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Patchogue — where he was evaluated. After being placed on a ventilator and intravenous therapy, he was rushed to Stony Brook.

Shifting to high gear
“It was a pretty quiet morning, then it suddenly shifted into high gear,” said Jamie Farruggia, the receiving nurse in Stony Brook’s emergency center. “We knew he was on the way. We knew it was touch-and-go, especially with a child.”
Mary Zegers was the circulating nurse on duty that day.

“We heard we were getting a pediatric trauma. I set-up and prepared for the case, and accepted the patient when he came into the room,” Zegers said. “We are always prepared, but seeing a baby close to death was very traumatic for everybody.”

The accident caused Bobby’s brain to swell. To relieve the pressure, part of his skull had to be removed in the initial surgery. The pieces of bone were stored in his abdomen for retrieval and replacement later. When he pulled through the surgery, the tension turned to relief and thankfulness.

Bobby was then placed in the care of PEF nurses in the Pediatric Intensive Care unit.

“When something was going wrong with Bobby, there was one nurse who always seemed to be there. She responded immediately, and knew exactly what to do. She was like a guardian angel,” Kim Palange said.

Bobby was moved to St. Charles Hospital for rehabilitation, where he wore a protective foam helmet, before his return to Stony Brook for the second surgery.

Kim Fenster, a scrub nurse in neurosurgery for 10 years, participated in Bobby’s second surgery where the team removed the bone flaps from his abdomen and reattached them back to Bobby’s skull.

“My work is very challenging and very rewarding. We see lots of cases, but it was unique to save Bobby. He is a lucky little boy,” Fenster said.

Bobby was released from Stony Brook, a state university hospital, just six weeks after the accident happened.
He will be four years old at the end of July. His mom says he is doing wonderfully and is quite an active child. She remains eternally thankful to the team of medical experts for saving his life.

The Communicator June 2006

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