Is it surgery or something else ... a strength of spirit, perhaps, that allowed a Chicago Cubs player, after having four fingers cut off, to get back in the game.
Koyie Hill, Chicago Cubs Catcher: "My dad's a master carpenter and I grew up helping him my whole life."
Trying his hand at making cabinets seemed natural. Then, the unexpected.
Koyie Hill: "The blade grabbed, and before you knew it, you know, it's a life-changing experience."
In an instant. With the wood, the saw grabbed Koyie Hill's finger. One after the other.
Koyie Hill: "It just happened so fast, that it kind of shocked me a little bit. So what happened was, the saw spins so it stuck that board back through and cut me there."
Sudden, shocking, but not at first painful.
Koyie Hill: "I knew that we had to take some action pretty quick."
The physical sight might have been maddening. But perhaps the most disturbing image for Koyie Hill ... a career fading.
Koyie Hill: "You never know how everything's gonna play out, and so I was thinking, you know, this is how it all ends."
Even though things looked grim in the ER -- he wasn't ready to leave the field.
Koyie Hill: "I wasn't ready to have played my last game, and I think I was pretty determined from the start that I was at least gonna give it everything I had and all they could do was tell me to go home."
Doctors wanted to amputate his fingers. No. He wanted to hit. Wanted to catch. Determination and a good doctor brought him around the bases where now he can cross home.
Koyie Hill: "Oother than a couple of pig bones, and maybe a chicken bone or something to make somewhat of a joint because I'd ripped all the joints out. Other than that, I mean everything, he just tried to put it back as best he could. He felt like he did a decent job considering the mess that he was handed."
What the doctor handed Koyie Hill was a hand, not perfect, but able to play the game.
Koyie Hill: "The hand is functional. And as long as it continues to be so, I'll go out there and compete the best I can, and do what I need to do to stay out there."
His fingers fit in the glove. A little nub helps him grip the bat. And for this man with a true goal ... the rest is history.
Koyie Hill: "I never thought that I wouldn't be able to bend any of my fingers again, or that they would be crooked or anything like that. You just kind of play the cards you're dealt and if it's something you really want to do then go for it, nothing has to change."
But change is critical. We live in a time of technology ... robots operating, tiny incisions for big operations. And within our grasp, growing new bone and repairing lost limbs.
Dr. John Kotis, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center: "The advances have allowed us to now treat and be able to preserve the hand. Years ago he may have either lost the hand or had the inability to use the function of his digits."
Dr. John Kotis enjoys the advances that allow him to hand an accident victim his life back with use of his limbs.
Dr. John Kotis: "We now can reconstruct finger joints in the same way we reconstruct knee joints or hip joints. So now we've been able to, in the last ten years, devise an apparatus that actually allows us to provide grip strength and getting people back to their activities of daily living."
For Koyie Hill that means scoring -- fans cheering.
Koyie Hill: "Just don't sell yourself short. And if it's really what you want to do, then you're able to do anything."
Koyie still experiences pain at times, especially in certain weather conditions. He's even said he may have the limbs removed and repaired once he's through with baseball. But for now the pain is just part of the game and he says he's in it to win.
Koyie Hill, Chicago Cubs Catcher: "My dad's a master carpenter and I grew up helping him my whole life."
Trying his hand at making cabinets seemed natural. Then, the unexpected.
Koyie Hill: "The blade grabbed, and before you knew it, you know, it's a life-changing experience."
In an instant. With the wood, the saw grabbed Koyie Hill's finger. One after the other.
Koyie Hill: "It just happened so fast, that it kind of shocked me a little bit. So what happened was, the saw spins so it stuck that board back through and cut me there."
Sudden, shocking, but not at first painful.
Koyie Hill: "I knew that we had to take some action pretty quick."
The physical sight might have been maddening. But perhaps the most disturbing image for Koyie Hill ... a career fading.
Koyie Hill: "You never know how everything's gonna play out, and so I was thinking, you know, this is how it all ends."
Even though things looked grim in the ER -- he wasn't ready to leave the field.
Koyie Hill: "I wasn't ready to have played my last game, and I think I was pretty determined from the start that I was at least gonna give it everything I had and all they could do was tell me to go home."
Doctors wanted to amputate his fingers. No. He wanted to hit. Wanted to catch. Determination and a good doctor brought him around the bases where now he can cross home.
Koyie Hill: "Oother than a couple of pig bones, and maybe a chicken bone or something to make somewhat of a joint because I'd ripped all the joints out. Other than that, I mean everything, he just tried to put it back as best he could. He felt like he did a decent job considering the mess that he was handed."
What the doctor handed Koyie Hill was a hand, not perfect, but able to play the game.
Koyie Hill: "The hand is functional. And as long as it continues to be so, I'll go out there and compete the best I can, and do what I need to do to stay out there."
His fingers fit in the glove. A little nub helps him grip the bat. And for this man with a true goal ... the rest is history.
Koyie Hill: "I never thought that I wouldn't be able to bend any of my fingers again, or that they would be crooked or anything like that. You just kind of play the cards you're dealt and if it's something you really want to do then go for it, nothing has to change."
But change is critical. We live in a time of technology ... robots operating, tiny incisions for big operations. And within our grasp, growing new bone and repairing lost limbs.
Dr. John Kotis, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center: "The advances have allowed us to now treat and be able to preserve the hand. Years ago he may have either lost the hand or had the inability to use the function of his digits."
Dr. John Kotis enjoys the advances that allow him to hand an accident victim his life back with use of his limbs.
Dr. John Kotis: "We now can reconstruct finger joints in the same way we reconstruct knee joints or hip joints. So now we've been able to, in the last ten years, devise an apparatus that actually allows us to provide grip strength and getting people back to their activities of daily living."
For Koyie Hill that means scoring -- fans cheering.
Koyie Hill: "Just don't sell yourself short. And if it's really what you want to do, then you're able to do anything."
Koyie still experiences pain at times, especially in certain weather conditions. He's even said he may have the limbs removed and repaired once he's through with baseball. But for now the pain is just part of the game and he says he's in it to win.
