Surgeon Survives 300-Foot Fall | Lessons on Patient Recovery

A Surgeon Becomes the Patient

Dr. Thomas Higgins, a veteran orthopedic trauma surgeon at University of Utah Health, spent decades delivering sober, realistic assessments to patients about their recovery prospects. He believed in providing the facts, no matter how grim. That perspective shifted on December 30, when a backcountry skiing excursion turned into a life-or-death struggle. While attempting to traverse a mountain pass, Higgins fell between 100 and 300 feet. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, multiple broken bones, and severe facial trauma.

Rescuers from Salt Lake County Search and Rescue, the Department of Public Safety, and Intermountain Life Flight coordinated a difficult extraction in the remote terrain between Little and Big Cottonwood canyons. Flight paramedic Hal Van Meeteren performed a critical airway intervention at the scene, an action Higgins later cited as instrumental to his survival. With only a 5% chance of living, the surgeon who once held the scalpel found himself reliant on the same system he had served for over 20 years.

Twenty-Five Years of Level I Care

Following his recovery journey, Higgins shared his experience during the 25th-anniversary celebration of the University of Utah Health’s Level I Trauma Center. The facility holds the distinction of being the first in the state to receive American College of Surgeons verification. Since opening in 2001, the center has treated approximately 50,000 patients. It operates a vast geographic network that extends across Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana.

Dr. Toby M. Enniss, the trauma medical director, emphasized that Level I centers provide care that transcends initial surgery. The mission includes research, community prevention, and long-term rehabilitation. Over the last quarter-century, the department has trained more than 4,000 physicians and 900 nurses. The center maintains the capacity to deploy surgeons to crash scenes, ensuring specialized medical intervention begins before the patient reaches the hospital doors.

Lessons from the Other Side of the Bed

The experience of being a patient changed how Higgins views medical practice. He spent two months in intensive care and several more in rehabilitation. While he does not recall the first five weeks, his family and colleagues provided support that left a lasting impact. The medical team's persistent positivity proved crucial to his mental recovery, pushing him to celebrate small milestones like improvements in his gait or motor function. He now understands that supporting a patient's family is as critical as treating the patient themselves.

Today, Higgins continues daily rehabilitation to regain dexterity in his hands and coordination in his limbs. He remains uncertain if he will return to his surgical practice, describing his ongoing recovery as a race without a clearly defined finish line. Despite the physical challenges, his outlook has become more optimistic. He insists he will no longer dismiss the potential for improvement in any patient, drawing on his own unlikely survival to fuel his hope for the future.