Overlake Hospital Medical Center hand surgeon gives young man and family hope

Daniel Coffey is a severely disabled quadriplegic who recently had a life changing surgery performed by Overlake Hospital Medical Center hand surgeon Dr. Thomas Trumble. Dan suffers from a condition that causes his hands to be tightly clenched at all times, making the skin on his thumb rub away, putting him at constant risk of infection. Several orthopedic surgeons near his home in North Idaho told him and his family that amputation of the thumb was the only solution. However, Overlakes Dr. Trumble, told Dan's father that he could improve his condition without ampuation. They had the surgery performed, and on June 16 the family was back in town to have the stitches removed and see the surgery results first hand.

The surgery lengthened the tendons in Dan's hand and depending on how his brain continues to recover he could potentially regain some movement in his hand. This is a testament to the strength of one young man and another example of the life changing work by the specialists at Overlake Hospital Medical Center.

Check out KOMO News' coverage of the story.