Hiker Reunites With Medical Students Who Came to His Aid

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Patient Stories

Matthew Fredricks with medical students, front row, from left: Aliza Green and Zina Huxley-Reicher; back row, from left: Hayley Lynch, Haley Tupper, Letitia Li, Esben Iberson, Halley Kaye-Kauderer, Matt Spindler, and Jenna Hobeika.

Miracles happen. Kindness matters. A touch of the hand can mean “everything.” Those were some of the messages that Matthew Fredricks delivered on Monday, November 27, when he was reunited with a group of students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who weeks before had aided and comforted him on a hiking trail when he was having a heart attack.

“In your studies, you are going to learn the mechanics of medicine, you are going to learn all the technical terms and procedures,” Mr. Fredricks said. “But what you guys did instinctively, you can’t be taught that. You showed me compassion, and I am amazingly grateful.”

Mr. Fredricks, a kitchen designer from New City, Rockland County, was at the center of a dramatic rescue on Sunday, October 22, after he collapsed on a steep trail in Harriman State Park. Before he was lifted off the mountain by a helicopter crew—an event shown on local newscasts—he was aided by the group of medical students who were also hiking that day. Weeks later, Mr. Fredricks contacted the Icahn School of Medicine seeking a reunion with the students, and it was arranged at the Annenberg Building.

“You are incredible for making this effort,” David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education, and the Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair for Medical Education, told Mr. Fredricks. “What happened to you is really rare, but what is even more rare is that you made this effort to find every single person who helped you.”

Matthew Fredricks being lifted from the mountain trail. Courtesy of NYPD

Mr. Fredricks, 59, is an avid hiker and skier, even serving on the National Ski Patrol. A few months before the heart attack, he had what seemed to be persistent heartburn and visited his local primary care doctor and cardiologist, but a stress test and imaging were inconclusive. Mr. Fredricks had hiked the trail—a challenging 2.5-mile round trip—five times in recent months, but on October 22, he stopped near the top because he felt intense pain in his chest and arms. He called it a “miracle” that he was clearheaded enough to pick a resting spot—a flat outcropping of rock—that would be accessible to rescuers. In a second “miracle,” a Pennsylvania couple to whom he had given directions at the bottom of the trail, stopped to ask if he had made it to the top. He told them, “I didn’t, and I’m in trouble.”

The husband called 911 on his cellphone, and then a third “miracle” occurred—the arrival of the Mount Sinai students. The couple asked if they had any medical knowledge. “They were sort of joking, I think,” said Halley Kaye-Kauderer, a second-year student. “I told them ‘Not really, but probably more than anyone else here.’ ” The nine young people are members of WildMed, a group of students interested in the specialty of wilderness medicine—providing emergency care in remote settings. They huddled around Mr. Fredricks, took his pulse, and questioned him about his condition. Letitia Li, a first-year student, folded a lightweight blue towel and put it under Mr. Fredricks’s head. (He kept it, and now wears it “as a fashion statement.”) Second-year students Zina Huxley-Reicher and Aliza Green sat on either side of him. “Aliza simply said, ‘I’m going to hold your hand.’ In that moment, it meant everything,” Mr. Fredricks said, adding that he felt a sense of calm, despite excruciating pain.

After about an hour, emergency responders arrived and sent the students on their way. Mr. Fredricks was taken to the Westchester Medical Center, where a blockage was found in his right coronary artery.

Now he is watching his diet, exercising moderately, and getting follow-up cardiac care. Mr. Fredricks is also trying to thank everyone he can, reaching out to the helicopter pilot, his hospital team, and the rescue workers. He invited the students to go skiing on the mountain he patrols, and he brought each of them a blue towel similar to the one Ms. Li gave him.

“You did the right thing,” Mr. Fredricks told the students who aided him. “Keep doing it. You are in the right place, and you are all amazing people.”

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An Emergency Sight-Saving Surgery for a Patient Forced to Leave Puerto Rico

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Featured, Ophthalmology, Patient Stories

Carmen Rivera at her follow-up appointment with Jessica Lee, MD.

Carmen Rivera of Isabela, Puerto Rico, was seeing black dots in her left eye and having trouble focusing when she visited a doctor who diagnosed her with a retinal detachment and scheduled her for emergency surgery on Tuesday, September 19. As Hurricane Maria approached Puerto Rico, however, the surgery was postponed, and when the island, including the hospital where she was scheduled for surgery, was left without electricity, she faced a serious health crisis. Without immediate treatment, Ms. Rivera risked losing her central vision.

“My doctor in Puerto Rico suggested I get off the island as soon as possible to have the surgery,” recalls Ms. Rivera, whose children stepped in to help—first by driving long distances to get cellular service, and finally by reaching relatives in the Bronx who arranged for her trip to New York City. “By the time I arrived here on October 2, my vision got worse and I couldn’t see anything out of my left eye,” says Ms. Rivera.

Family members brought her to New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, where retina specialist Jessica Lee, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, performed sight-saving emergency surgery on Monday, October 9. Ms. Rivera underwent retinal detachment repair surgery, which involved placing a gas bubble into the eye to keep the retina in place. “She is recovering nicely,” Dr. Lee says a few weeks after the surgery, noting that it can take about two months for the gas bubble in the eye to dissolve, at which time vision can further improve. At a follow-up visit on Tuesday, December 5, Dr. Lee reports, “Her retina is completely attached and she is doing well.”

“There are no words to describe how grateful I am that everything fell into place so that I could be in New York City and have the surgery. I am so thankful for the excellent care I received,” says Ms. Rivera. “Regaining my vision has been amazing. If I weren’t here, I would still be waiting for the surgery.”

Leadership, faculty, and staff from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary remain eager to help other patients from Puerto Rico. They recently partnered with Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Puerto Rican Society of Ophthalmology, and ophthalmologists throughout the United States to launch “Eye Care: Puerto Rico,” a program that facilitates access to eye care to evacuees in need of emergency care.

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Toddler Receives the Gift of Sound

Nov 6, 2017 | Featured, Patient Stories

With her new cochlear implant in place, Ruth relaxed with her mother, Nancy Komujuni.

Ruth Tatuleka, a 2-year-old from Uganda, was recently given the gift of hearing, thanks to a team of physicians and staff at the Mount Sinai Health System.

Ruth is from Kyabirwa, a village of 1,000 people, and has been deaf since birth. Her family knew that if she were ever to hear, the only solution was a cochlear implant—a small electronic device that stimulates the cochlear nerve, which carries auditory information to the brain. While commonplace in the United States, cochlear implant surgery is rare in the developing world. The family tried to raise funds to take Ruth to India—the closest country that could possibly perform the procedure—but they were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, time was running out, since a child’s first three years are crucial in learning spoken language.

Fortunately for Ruth, a slender lifeline connected her village to New York City: Ruth’s uncle, Charles Kalumuna, MD, volunteers his services at The Allan Stone Community Health Clinic in the village, where a new surgical facility is under construction with donations being raised by Michael L. Marin, MD, the Dr. Julius H. Jacobson II Chair in Vascular Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Surgeon-in-Chief, Mount Sinai Health System.

Dr. Kalumuna reached out to Dr. Marin, who then contacted colleagues at Mount Sinai about Ruth’s case. By August, the little girl was at The Mount Sinai Hospital, undergoing surgery by Maura K. Cosetti, MD, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at the Ear Institute of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at Mount Sinai. “Because hearing is closely tied to language development, our goal is to give children access to sound as early as possible,” Dr. Cosetti says. “We are thrilled to help Ruth and her family in this meaningful way.”

On Monday, September 11, the implant was activated, allowing Ruth to hear the sound of her parents’ voices for the first time—a milestone she met with a quizzical expression. The device was checked and programmed by Jillian Levine-Madoff, AuD, Cochlear Implant Audiologist at the Ear Institute. She established what the family had been hoping for: Ruth now has access to sound. The little girl then began speech therapy sessions, led by Jessica Van Manen, MA, Hearing Habilitation and Speech/Language Pathologist at the Ear Institute, which were a critical part of her recovery since she had previously communicated mainly through gestures.

Maura K. Cosetti, MD, left, Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at Mount Sinai, was assisted by resident Douglas Worrall, MD.

Ruth and her family are now back in their village, where they continue to work on her hearing and speech skills. “Ruth was granted a chance to reach her full potential, thanks to the amazing team at The Mount Sinai Hospital,” Dr. Kalumuna says. “She is a lot more active and happy now, and definitely enjoys hearing sounds!”

Dr. Marin says, “Seeing an outcome such as Ruth’s inspires me to push forward with changing the standard of how the Western world provides aid and surgical care to areas like Kyabirwa, where safe, accessible surgeries are so crucially needed.”

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New York Daily News: How an impromptu visit to a Mount Sinai gastroenterologist ended decades of distress

Sep 6, 2017 | Patient Stories

With a lot of pain and no appointment, Paul O’Neill walked into the office of James Marion, MD, at The Mount Sinai Hospital. The visit would change his life, as Dr. Marion, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of Education and Outreach at the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital, suggested a new medication, which turned out to be significantly better than the older medication he had been taking since he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager.

Read the article in the New York Daily News

20th Annual Luncheon for Cancer Survivors

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Breast Cancer, Community, Patient Stories

Ami Rogé with her physician, Stephen C. Malamud, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology).

About 200 cancer survivors, their families and friends, and Mount Sinai faculty and staff, recently attended the 20th annual luncheon celebrating National Cancer Survivors Day®. At the event, held on Sunday, June 11, in The Mount Sinai Hospital’s Annenberg West Lobby, attendees enjoyed a performance by Ami Rogé, a concert pianist and breast cancer survivor who was treated at Mount Sinai Downtown-Chelsea Center. Steven J. Burakoff, MD, Dean for Cancer Innovation, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discussed the state of cancer care. “Given our increasing success treating cancer, there are now more than 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States,” he said. “We must focus more of our efforts on helping our patients cope as cancer survivors.”

A Full-Time Canine Companion Joins Mount Sinai

Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Featured, Patient Stories, Pediatrics

Aiden Schaefer, far right, and his brother, Mason, snuggle with Professor Bunsen Honeydew, Kravis Children’s Hospital’s new full-time employee.

Two-year-old Aiden Schaefer was battling leukemia, with long hospital stays, uncomfortable medical procedures, and time spent away from his twin brother, Mason, when a gentle young service dog, Professor Bunsen Honeydew, began keeping him company as part of a new program at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai. Denise Schaefer says her son Aiden “fell in love instantly” with the friendly golden doodle. Aiden’s experience “was not about the medicine or the doctors, it was about seeing Professor.”

Thanks to an innovative program, Paws & Play, supported by PetSmart Charities® at Kravis Children’s Hospital, the highly trained facility dog is now a full-time employee at Mount Sinai. Kravis launched the program—the first of its kind in New York State—with a grant from PetSmart Charities. Under the direction of handlers Ali Spike, MS, Certified Child Life Specialist, Toshiko Nonaka, MS, Certified Child Life Specialist, and Morgan Stojanowski,

Follow Professor Bunsen Honeydew’s adventures on Instagram.

Child Life Program Assistant Director, Professor works with patients in the Blau Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disease, the Alice Gottesman Bayer Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and inpatient units.

Working in conjunction with the doctors and nurses who care for the physical well-being of patients, Professor provides emotional support. He helps to ease the pain or anxiety that accompanies medical procedures, and long hospitalizations and treatments, while improving the socialization, motivation, and overall temperament of pediatric patients.

“At Kravis, we are surrounded by excellence, great love, and care for families,” says Diane C. Rode, MPS, Child Life Program Director. “This is a magnificent opportunity for us to continue humanizing the health care we provide.”