My Hand Wasn't There

I love the game. I’ve been playing since I was 3 years old. 

I work on the grounds crew at a university. On the day of the accident, I was driving a mower and slid in the mud. One of the blades clipped a sewer pipe, which caused the mower to flip and fall into a ditch. I fell face first toward the blades, and I had my hand in front of my face to protect it. I didn’t think I was hurt until I reached down to grab my phone and realized my hand wasn’t there. 

I was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, then referred immediately to Cleveland Clinic Akron General. Dr. Lanzinger¹ arrived within minutes and promised he would do his best to reattach my hand and restore its functionality. He had me in surgery within a couple hours because he had limited time to reestablish blood flow to my hand. 

The surgical team worked through the night — 14 hours — rotating dozens of people in and out. They put in nine rods and a lot of pins. After that, I had another surgery to remove the pins, and four more surgeries so far on my fingers. I’ve also done a lot of physical therapy. 

I’m doing great. I’m able to pick stuff up, do my job and throw the baseball around. But we’re not stopping there. We’re going to keep doing surgeries to get as much out of my hand as we possibly can. 

Luke Brittain recently become a dad. He looks forward to the day when he can play catch with his daughter. In the meantime, he’s coaching at a local high school and leading by example.