< Arkansas Children's Blog

Kid-Sized Emergency Care Close to Home

Published date: June 06, 2019

Xavier Yandell-Teuton was having the best Saturday … until the 9-year-old took a turn on a hoverboard at his best friend’s house. He fell off the board, landing on his hands and knees on the pavement and breaking the radius and ulna bones in his arm - nasty break with fractured ends.

Xavier’s mom, Kay, rushed to meet him at a Fayetteville hospital and was horrified to learn his injury would most likely require surgery, plates and pins.

"I felt sick when I saw him," Kay says. "Xavier looked green and had dark circles under his eyes. Before my arrival, he was not given any pain medication, so I was seeing my son in shock."

Xavier’s care team made some calls looking for the best pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the area. They were quickly referred to Dr. Waanders at Arkansas Children's Northwest.

"When I was told they were going to transfer Xavier to Arkansas Children’s, I thought we were headed to Little Rock. At the time I was not aware a new children’s hospital had been built in Springdale," Kay says.

Xavier, exhausted and in pain, arrived at Arkansas Children’s Northwest via ambulance at 2 a.m.

When Kay and Xavier met with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Waanders, they expected to hear talk of surgery. Instead, Dr. Waanders told them surgery wouldn’t be necessary.

"That was the best thing anyone could have said to me at that moment - no full anesthesia…no arm cut open…no scar."

Xavier was given medicine for pain, and then Dr. Waanders used a mobile x-ray machine to set Xavier’s arm manually. Instead of undergoing surgery and recovery, Xavier’s arm was back in place in less than an hour.

The care team placed Xavier’s arm into a temporary cast. He was sent home to keep it elevated above his heart for four days, allowing the swelling to go down. Then he wore a cast for three weeks followed by a splint for two weeks.

"Pediatric orthopedic specialists know children’s bones," says Kay. "They’re different. Once we arrived at Arkansas Children’s Northwest, the whole story changed."

Because of your support, Xavier and his parents received kid-savvy, family-centered care that only a children’s hospital can provide.

"Everyone was so kind and friendly, even at 2:00 in the morning. We were at our worst, but the Emergency Department staff at Arkansas Children’s Northwest were at their best," says Kay.