When Spencer Evans looks down at the swath of a scar on the underside of his left forearm, he thinks of how lucky he is, of the good things in his life – his family, his teammates and all the people who helped him play lacrosse again.
He wasn’t always sure he would.
Doctors feared worse.
On Jan. 6, 2015, Evans was at his job as a carpenter at an industrial building site in Delta, just off Highway 17. He was 22 years old and approaching his second season in the Western Lacrosse Association with the Maple Ridge Burrards.
At around 7:30 a.m., Evans was helping unload a dock leveler – a large hydraulic platform that bridges the difference in height and distance between a warehouse floor and bay, so a fork lift can drive in and out of transport trucks.
The dock leveler was on a hook, suspended several feet above the bay. Evans reached with his left arm to remove a three-foot-long safety bar when a bolt snapped and the 500-pound leveler fell on his arm.
At first, Evans felt a warm sensation. Then his arm went numb. From his elbow down, his arm was pinched under the big steel plate, and about the thickness of a penny.
He first thought about his fiancé, Julie, who was four months pregnant.
He was hoping he wouldn’t lose his arm, so he could play basketball and lacrosse one day with his child.
Evans grew up in Maple Ridge, attending Kanaka Creek and Alexander Robinson elementary schools, and Pitt Meadows secondary, where, at 6’5’’ and 190 pounds, he played point guard for Rich Goulet on the senior boys’ basketball team. He had quit lacrosse at age 16 to pursue basketball full-time and after graduation landed a scholarship to play at the University of the Fraser Valley.
After two years of collegiate basketball, though, he was approached by one of his former minor lacrosse coaches, Rey Comeault, to play junior A in Langley.
Evans was then drafted by the Burrards, for which Comeault is now assistant general manager.
Evans, who had bulked up to 240 pounds, played 13 games for the Burrards in 2014, recording 11 goals and two assists. He scored twice more in three playoff games, but the Burrards were eliminated in the first round.
Evans was looking forward to the next season.
But he needed to get this plate off his arm, to see if he still had one left.
A first-aid lady took his vital signs and gave him an oxygen mask and a blanket. Co-workers got behind him, so he wouldn’t fall back.
Evans just wanted to stay awake.
Paramedics and firefighters arrived within 10 minutes.
They lifted the leveler off of him with a machine.
Evans told them he wanted to look at his arm. It was still there. It looked dislocated.
He didn’t pass out.
They helped him stand, and he walked himself to the gurney.
He was in severe pain now and wanted something to relieve it, so he could pass out.
He was surprised that he was able to stay awake and talk to everyone around him.
A firefighter rode with him in the ambulance and held his arm steady.
Evans wants to be a firefighter one day.
The ride to Royal Columbian Hospital was bumpy. It made him nauseous.
At Royal Columbian, the major trauma centre for Fraser Health, doctors put him out for the surgery.
Dr. Trevor Stone performed part of it.
The steel plate had fractured one of the large bones, the proximal ulna, in Evans’ forearm. He also dislocated his elbow, which couldn’t be put back because of the fracture. As well, a major blood vessel in his upper arm, the brachial artery, was damaged.
A vascular surgeon first performed an immediate bypass, taking a vein from Evans’ leg to restore blood flow in his arm.
Dr. Stone, an orthopedic surgeon, then used a screw to fix the forearm fracture. He also put the elbow back in the joint, and repaired some ligaments with a suture anchor.
Evans was in surgery for about seven hours.
He had another procedure several days later to treat some acute swelling in the forearm and required a skin graft. Afterwards, his forearm looked like a plucked chicken.
Dr. Stone said the vascular injury combined with the elbow dislocation is rare.
Evans was at risk of losing function of his arm, or amputation.
“This guy had a whole bunch of very talented health care professionals to help him,” Dr. Stone added. “Very few hospitals have this trauma team.”
Before his first surgery, Evans was surrounded by family – Julie, his father John, mother Eileen, and older brother Trevor.
Julie was in tears. Everyone was sad and scared.
He remembers waking up after the first surgery in the intensive care unit.
“It was cold.”
And he was thirsty.
He remembers looking down at his arm. It was still there.
He fell back asleep.
He woke up next and was moved to a room, where he remained for a week and a half.
His teammates came to visit him.
Then Evans went home, where for the next six weeks he rested a lot, went out for lunch with his dad often, and watched football.
“It was kind of boring.”
Then he started physiotherapy.
He had no feeling from his elbow down. He was told to be prepared, his arm may never be the same, that the nerves may not heel, that the range of motion may not return.
He already knew he wanted to play lacrosse again.
He went to physiotherapy twice a week, and the gym whenever he could. He wore an elbow brace and rode a stationary bike and walked on a treadmill.
After three months, he started to increase the intensity of his rehabilitation, strengthening all the muscles around his elbow – the biceps, triceps, those in his shoulders and chest.
He also began shooting a lacrosse ball.
Spencer helped Lance Andre, the Burrards’ team president, coach the bantam A1 minor lacrosse team in Maple Ridge. At first, at team practices, Evans just shot with his right arm. Then he tried with both hands. He still couldn’t feel his left hand. But in time, it started to feel normal.
On June 7 of that year, Landon Bradley Evans was born in Abbotsford Regional Hospital. He weighed seven pounds, four ounces.
Throughout his rehabilitation, Evans was motivated by the thought of holding his child for the first time.
Julie handed Landon to him.
Evans was apprehensive about his arm at first. But as soon as he held his son, he didn’t think about his arm anymore.
While he couldn’t play lacrosse, Evans went to watch his team practice and play. The Burrards made it to the league championship final for the first time since relocating to Maple Ridge in 1996. It was difficult for Evans to watch, but he wanted to support his teammates, as they had done for him.
When the season was over, he declared his intention to play the next season.
Dr. Stone wasn’t surprised.
“He’s an extremely motivated individual and that played very well into his ability to recover.”
Burrards head coach Rob Williams welcomed Evans back to the team. As a player, he said Evans is big, fast, agile and athletic, with soft hands. He’s also coachable, does what he’s asked. A team guy.
“He’s a smart lacrosse player.”
A month before the season, Andre asked Evans if he was ready to play.
“Yup,” he said.
“Andre is a close friend of mine. He believed in me the whole time.”
Evans started practicing with the team this past April. He played his first exhibition game in New Westminster against the Salmonbellies. He started the game.
He was nervous, but he didn’t think about his arm.
“I just went out and played.”
He felt good. His arm wasn’t sore.
He’s played 10 games so far this season, although he’s in more of a defensive role than in the past. He doesn’t mind.
“I love this sport, so whatever gets me on the floor.”
The accident seems like a long time ago now. Landon is a year old. He has a basketball and a lacrosse stick, but seems to like the latter more.
He’s come to watch is dad play a couple of times.
Julie is pregnant again, and due in August.
Evans looks down at his scar and is reminded of 2015 – a “crazy” year.
To him, the scar is a reminder not of what went wrong.
“I think of how lucky I am.”