Karson Kenefick is a fearless farm kid from southeast South Dakota.
“Big fan of John Deere,” mom Jessica Kenefick said, pointing to Karson’s shirt from her farmhouse kitchen. “I actually tried to get him to put something else on today, but he said that’s what he’s wearing.”
The 2-year-old, nicknamed Moose, finds turning a tractor with dad Kyle Kenefick as his favorite pastime.
“He would spend every day on the farm, every waking minute if he could. Literally two days after the accident he was riding the combine with Dad,” Jessica said.
The accident she’s referring to severely damaged the boy’s right hand and could happen to any child.
“Karson actually stuck his hand in a moving treadmill. He stuck it underneath the belt so it kind of sucked his hand in while I was working out one night,” Jessica said. “I immediately stopped it, pulled his hand out and he had a lot of burns and damage to his first and second fingers.”
Region’s only pediatric wound ostomy provider
While a trip to the emergency room at Sanford Health in nearby Sioux Falls, South Dakota, provided immediate support close to home, Karson’s fingers got worse over the next few days. After messaging Karson’s primary care provider, Jennifer Haggar, M.D., Jessica realized more care was needed.
“His injury really progressed from something that’s really superficial to something that’s pretty deep,” said Sanford Health’s Sarah Dorr, APRN-CPNP, CWON, the region’s only board certified pediatric wound ostomy provider.
That led to extensive bleeding, a return trip to the ER and eventually Sanford Children’s Hospital to see Dorr.
“She actually came in from home (on a weekend) to the ER to help us get it to stop bleeding. I was so impressed,” Jessica said.
Dorr added, “If it’s my kid, I would want someone to do the same. You just need somebody to stop and say, ‘It’s OK. We’re going to take care of it and this is how we’re going to do it.'”
Karson was seen twice a week in the outpatient sedation clinic at the Castle for a month for the painful burns. Each time, the same teams would change his dressings, clean and stretch his fingers to prevent constriction, and check the healing process.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Kenefick
“When they come to a place like Sanford Children’s, they get all of the care they need in one building,” Dorr said. “I didn’t have to send them some somewhere else for therapy. I didn’t have to send them somewhere else for a plastic evaluation. I didn’t have to send them somewhere else for pain management.
“He got all of the care in one place, at one time, in one visit.”
Comprehensive care leads to successful results
Jessica remembered the staff being “professional, amazing, friendly, I mean by the end of it some of them were like family.”
Thanks to comprehensive care, Karson’s fingers are healed and he’s back in the swing of things.
“We had the same nurses, same child life (specialists) every time. It was wonderful,” Jessica said.
Karson’s dad Kyle said, “They just wanted it to keep being stretched all the time. He was really good about it.”
Using his hands to operate the swing set in the yard, Karson is back to being a farm kid.
“This is his temperament through it all. He was just so happy and easy going,” Jessica said. “He never really cried. They would do his IVs and he would just hold his arm out. He was such a tough boy. It melts my heart that he can be that strong at one of his worst times.
“I don’t really honestly know what the outcome of his hand would have been without Sarah’s team.”
Dorr says Karson is off and running.
“He doesn’t have to come back here unless he does something else wild and crazy, but with him who knows what will happen. His hand is perfect. He’s going to grow and develop just like a normal little boy and have fun out on the farm. Give his sister a hard time and that is exactly what we want,” Dorr said.
Jessica added, “He has full use of his hand and we couldn’t be more thankful.”
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Posted In Children's, Emergency Medicine, Sioux Falls, Specialty Care
