{"id":5531,"date":"2019-02-03T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T14:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=5531"},"modified":"2019-06-13T09:42:20","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T14:42:20","slug":"the-lord-has-been-looking-after-me-for-a-long-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/the-lord-has-been-looking-after-me-for-a-long-time\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Lord has been looking after me for a long time\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was a warm fall morning on October 9, 2017, and harvest was underway on the Sass\u2019 farming operation in rural Streator, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Darla Sass was doing dishes in the kitchen when she heard ambulance sirens and the sound of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osflifeflight.org\/\">OSF Life Flight<\/a> helicopter, which is based full-time at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport \u2013 Walter A. Duncan Field in nearby Peru.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said, \u2018that sounds close.\u2019 But I didn\u2019t go look outside. I figured God had it in his hands,\u201d Darla said.<\/p>\n<p>But when a strange pickup truck pulled up to her home in a hurry, she knew something had happened to her husband, Dale.<\/p>\n<p>The Sass\u2019 son, Darrin, came into the house, telling his mother to get some clothes \u201cand come on. We need to get to Peoria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the ride to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/saint-francis\/\">OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center<\/a> in Peoria, Darrin told his mother what had happened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just started praying,\u201d Darla said.<\/p>\n<h2>Routine farm work<\/h2>\n<p>The Sass family runs a 2,500-acre farm operation that\u2019s been in the family since 1864. Dale Sass, 66, is the fifth generation. His son and nephew are sixth generation.<\/p>\n<p>That morning, Dale was greasing the gear boxes of the sweep augers in the empty grain bins. The sweep auger rotates along the floor inside the grain bin to move the grain. They travel at a faster rate when there is no grain present, as was the case that morning.<\/p>\n<p>The auger motor came on unexpectedly. Dale was in front of the auger and it immediately pulled in his left leg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs soon as it grabbed my left leg, I couldn\u2019t get out of it. I was laying down and was holding the auger to stop it from going over the top of me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The auger worked its way up Dale\u2019s left leg and then it grabbed the right leg and pulled it in, snapping his femur above the knee.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Beutke, a Sass employee and chief of the Long Point Volunteer Fire Department, was nearby when his fire department pager went off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ran into the bin to assess things and Dale said, \u2018Get me a helicopter,\u2019\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n<p>Dale saw the damage the auger had done and knew he needed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osflifeflight.org\/\">OSF Life Flight<\/a>. The helicopter landed in a tight grassy patch right behind the grain bin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prayed all the way to Peoria. It helped me to remain conscious,\u201d Dale said.<\/p>\n<h2>The damage done<\/h2>\n<p>The auger broke bones in both of Dale\u2019s legs and his left ankle, shredded skin, tendons and cartilage and completely destroyed his left knee and most of his right.<\/p>\n<p>Orthopedic surgeon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/providers\/robert-kinzinger-1464131\">Dr. Rob Kinzinger<\/a> handled Dale\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a farm boy, so I actually understand the injuries Dale sustained,\u201d Dr. Kinzinger said. \u201cThis was a very severe trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During Dale\u2019s 21 days at OSF Saint Francis, Dr. Kinzinger put rods in to repair the right femur and left tibia. He fixed the left ankle and repaired both of Dale\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/healthlibrary.osfhealthcare.org\/Search\/92,P07675\">patellar tendons<\/a> \u2013 the tendon that goes from the knee cap to the shin bone \u2013 as both of those were cut.<\/p>\n<p>Following one of his six surgeries, Dale asked if he\u2019d ever walk again. \u201cThey told me, \u2018yes,\u2019 so we knew it was just a matter of time and put our faith in God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Kinzinger said, \u201c50 years ago, he would have been looking at <a href=\"http:\/\/healthlibrary.osfhealthcare.org\/Search\/92,P08292\">amputation<\/a> of both legs above the knee.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Faith in recovery<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5533\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5533\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5533\" src=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dale_Sass-2-180x300.jpg\" alt=\"Darla and Dale Sass photo\" width=\"180\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dale_Sass-2-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Dale_Sass-2.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5533\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darla and Dale Sass.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Dale went through extensive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/services\/rehabilitation\/services\/orthopedic-therapy\/\">rehabilitation<\/a> after coming home. He received care through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/services\/home-care\/\">OSF Home Care Services<\/a>, and continues weekly therapy and home exercises. He uses a cane to get around and still has weakness in his legs. His right femur hasn\u2019t healed completely and Dr. Kinzinger said Dale likely will need a knee replacement due to the damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a really gratifying portion of this job when you see something like that and then you see him walk back into your office,\u201d Dr.\u00a0 Kinzinger said. \u201cIt\u2019s the Good Lord\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dale agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lord has been looking after me for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a warm fall morning on October 9, 2017, and harvest was underway on the Sass\u2019 farming operation in rural Streator, Illinois. Darla Sass was doing dishes in the kitchen when she heard ambulance sirens and the sound of an OSF Life Flight helicopter, which is based full-time at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":5538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[223,294],"tags":[426,372],"coauthors":[688],"class_list":["post-5531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patient-story","category-rehabilitation","tag-life-flight","tag-osf-saint-francis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018The Lord has been looking after me for a long time\u2019 | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When a farming accident injured his legs, Dale Sass relied on his faith to get him the care he needed fast. 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