June 3, 2016
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Vol. 34, No. 38
Guard survived ‘hit,’ now helps trauma survivors By Dawn Brazell brazell@musc.edu
MUSC AbUzz
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taring down the muzzle of the .38-caliber revolver, Robert Johnson knew the scene wasn’t going to go down well. He had just scuffled and lost with a man who kicked in his door early in the morning on March 5, 2010. Johnson, who was a state prison guard at the time getting ready for work, tried to fight off the intruder, a man Johnson would later learn had been hired to kill him for $6,000. The man put six bullets into him less than 6 feet away and left him for dead. Johnson had told his wife to escape if anything should happen, instead of trying to save him. Thankfully, she listened. “We had made a plan because we knew I had a hit on me,” he said, explaining that he had developed enemies at Lee Correctional Institution at Bishopville for his talent for discovering illegal contraband, including cell phones. Johnson always thought the hit would be out in the streets or at the prison, though. “I call her the bravest woman that I know,” said Johnson explaining how his wife came back to help him after the man left him for dead. “She gave me a towel and held it on me and called 911. And she did just what I wanted her to do, leave the house — cause there was no sense in both of us getting hurt. Somebody had to tell the story.” And what a story it would be. Johnson is telling his story to help other trauma survivors learn some of the ways he’s managed to survive not only the physical, but the emotional toll as well. Often trauma survivors have a long road to recovery that takes perseverance and reaching out to others who already know the ropes of creating a “new normal.” Trauma is the leading cause of death for people 1 to 46 and the third leading cause of death overall, across all age groups. The impact of life years lost is equal to that
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MUSC surgeon Dr. Stephen Fann and trauma survivor Robert Johnson became friends while Johnson recovered from being shot six times. of cancer, heart disease and HIV combined, according to the National Trauma Institute. Johnson’s new normal started when he woke up by his bathtub, knowing he was gravely injured. He and his wife began quoting scriptures as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. Johnson was stabilized at a local hospital to be flown to Richland Memorial in Columbia. Surgeon Stephen Fann, M.D., who now is an associate professor of surgery at MUSC, recalls being surrounded by a SWAT team of law enforcement officers with M–16s. He took one look at the extent of Johnson’s injuries and called in his partner. “He had horrendous injuries,” he said, adding that the gunshots affected Johnson’s colon, small bowel, liver, iliac vein and vena cava, the large vein that
drains and returns most of the blood to the heart. “It was a very big case and a very challenging case. He arrested on the table, and at one point one of my partners and I were operating on him at the same time.” Johnson said he doesn’t remember much, but was told Fann let his wife come in the operating room without a gown or mask at one point to say goodbye to him. “[Fann] said, ‘I wanted her to touch you while you were still warm before you got cold.’ That’s how sure he was that I was going to die. He said they gave me 63 units of blood. I bled out three times, and they had to use
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