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Iowa teen’s burn rehabilitation inspires future career aspirations

Fifteen-year-old Korbin Hornbacher says he went from ‘living it up in the summer to laying in a hospital bed,’ in the blink of an eye. In August, a serious accident left him with burns on 40% of his body, including his arms, legs and face. He spent three months in the intensive care unit at CHI St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, before coming to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ specialized pediatric burn rehabilitation program.

“My leg mobility and my arm mobility was completely gone,” Korbin said. “I had to relearn how to walk and how to use my arms. It was just relearning how to use all your body parts, like starting fresh as a baby.”

During his month-long stay as an inpatient, Korbin gained strength and learned how to care for his wounds properly. Brooke Murtaugh, OTD, OTR/L, CBIST, BT-C, Madonna’s burn program leader coordinated his interdisciplinary care and worked with Korbin daily on his burn rehabilitation.

“He had about 40% of his body sustain full thickness, so going through the top layer of the skin, the middle layer of the skin down to the very underlying layers of skin,” Murtaugh said. “It’s significant because he’s still growing and his body is maturing. We have to take that into consideration with his injury, and then there’s a whole host of what we call systemic impact, so even though the skin is injured, because of the size and severity of injury, it can affect kidney function, lung function, cardiac function, digestion, et cetera, so we need to make sure we’re thinking of him in all aspects as we manage those injuries.”

Madonna believes in holistic care, treating the mind, body and spirit. Murtaugh says with burn injuries like Korbin’s, there can also be mental and emotional impacts that need to be taken into consideration.

“Many times we see anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorders, that can really impact an individual’s quality of life long term, so we want to make sure we’re addressing those mental, emotional and psychological issues as well.”

Murtaugh says she was impressed with how Korbin handled his lengthy, often painful burn cares. He employed strategies she and Madonna’s neuropsychology department taught him to cope with difficult situations.

“Pain is always an issue, and it is pain that is very different and very intensified,” Murtaugh said. “Pain response and experience can be a significant barrier to participation in meeting goals in rehab, and that was not Korbin. He was always very engaged. He was proactive in wanting to learn how to do those daily cares at home. He used humor as a coping mechanism, which not only helped him but definitely helped us as professionals build that rapport with him.”

As he got stronger, Korbin transitioned to outpatient therapy at Madonna. Having met his basic goals of self-care and walking, his new goals became getting back to all his favorite hobbies.

“He was very involved in activities at home before all of this, so getting back to those things was very important to him,” Rebecca Saef, OTR/L, Korbin’s outpatient occupational therapist, said. “He doesn’t like to sit around, so getting back to the things he likes to do, playing baseball, getting back to school, and getting back to driving. He has his permit, so he wants to be prepared to take his driver’s test.”

Using Madonna’s driving simulator, Korbin got a feel for being behind the wheel. He also used the VitaGlide to enhance his upper body strength and stamina.

“He’s really into weightlifting and pushing himself, so that made it easy to work on things like strengthening and endurance because he’s already interested in them,” Saef said. “He’s very motivated; He knows what he needs to do to be successful, and I think he will be very successful.”

Reflecting on his experience over the last five months, Korbin says he feels like he’s been given a gift from God.

“It’s been really humbling and life-changing, honestly,” he said. “You think, ‘Oh, this could never happen to me,’ and then it happens. It’s a big life lesson. You can’t travel back [in time] and fix it. There’s no point in looking at it in a bad way. See what you can do to make it a good thing.”

Korbin plans to use his own rehabilitation journey to inspire and care for others. He’s returned to his high school classwork and is eyeing medical school in the future.

“I’ve always thought of becoming a doctor like it’s always been in the back of my head, but now, I might become a burn doctor because I’ve got that experience,” Korbin said. “I actually know what’s going on now. I can step into a hospital room with a burn patient and know everything. They taught me, and you learn so much, it’s crazy. And, not a lot of people get burned, and the people that do get burned, I feel like they just don’t have a voice. I feel like I could be that voice for someone else who doesn’t have that voice.”