Alyssa back on track year after accident

By Lauren Radomski | The Daily Journal

Published 12:00 p.m., June 12, 2009

A Fergus Falls 9-year-old whose fingers were seriously injured in an accident last year returned to the I-94 BMX racetrack — and to a sport she loves — for the first time Thursday night.

Four of Alyssa Martin’s fingers were nearly severed from her hand last June when they became trapped in a rope during a tug-of-war game at the track. The year since has been filled with surgeries, physical therapy sessions and day-to-day challenges. The recovery also kept Alyssa off of her bike, quite a change for someone who’s raced since age 4.

In the days immediately following the June 20 accident, Alyssa underwent several surgeries and grafts at North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis, where doctors attempted to repair ripped tendons and broken bones in order to save her fingers. Doctors were successful in reattaching the fingers, and after about a week in the hospital, Alyssa was back home. She was told it would be one to two years before she’d return to activities like racing, but Alyssa had other plans.

“She said, ‘Uh, uh, I’m doing it next summer,’” LaRae Martin said Thursday, recalling her daughter’s determination. “So I said, ‘OK, then we’re doing everything we can.’”

And for the Martins, doing everything they could last summer meant doing nothing at all. Accustomed to busy summers filled with racing and softball, Alyssa found herself with a wrapped hand that needed to be elevated and couldn’t be jostled. Completing everyday tasks like dressing, bathing and tying shoelaces took on new meaning.

“Wow, Mom, I really realize how lucky I was to (do) all that stuff,” Alyssa said at one point.

By September the Martins were traveling to Minneapolis one or two times a month for Alyssa’s physical therapy sessions. At home the third grader completed daily exercises to get her fingers moving again, sometimes with a stress ball or with a wristband to hold her fingers down.

“It was constantly trying to move them, trying to bend them, trying to exercise them,” LaRae Martin said. “You lose a lot of usage out of your hands when you’re not moving them.”

In December Alyssa underwent another surgery to loosen scar tissue that was stiffening her hand and impeding her therapy. Two to three weeks later she started physical therapy at Lake Region Hospital and resumed her exercises at home.

These days, Alyssa’s down to one or two Lake Region sessions a month and most of her therapy is completing daily tasks like lifting a gallon of milk and, yes, gripping the handlebars of a bike. With the permission of Alyssa’s doctor, the Martins went out to the BMX racetrack on a quiet evening earlier this week to see how she could handle the course. Alyssa had been riding her bike in her driveway for about a month.

The test drive went well and Alyssa returned to the racetrack Thursday night.

“Look at her go — she’s doing OK,” said Cameron Martin as he watched his daughter on a practice run.

Clad in a pink helmet and even pinker racing jersey, Alyssa earned the nickname the Pink Panther from boys she snuck up on and overtook during races a few years ago. Last year she was ranked eighth in the nation in her BMX racing division, though her record must begin anew after a year away from the track, Cameron Martin said.

Nevertheless, Alyssa was all smiles Thursday. She said she’d like to have friends over June 20 to celebrate having her fingers back. Those fingers will also be inside a softball glove this summer, as Alyssa returns to that sport as well.

Others within the racing community, which raised thousands of dollars for the Martins last year, were also glad to see the family back.

“We’re all excited to have the family out here, especially to see Alyssa ready to grip her handlebars and go,” said Sheila Newark, whose daughter sometimes races with Alyssa.

Alyssa will likely undergo future surgeries as she grows, her mother said, but right now she’s taking it one step at a time.

“She’s excited for what she’s accomplished,” Martin said. “It’s been a long road.”

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