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SURGERY MENDS SHATTERED HIP, BROKEN HEART

By J. Griffin Coop/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, July 5, 2005 9:25 AM CDT

Two unfortunate steps during the 2003 football season left K.D. Mixon II with a shattered hip and a broken heart.

Nearly two years later, the 15-year-old Pine Bluff High School student has a new hip and a new outlook on life.

"He's always smiling again," said his father, K.D. Mixon Sr. "His whole fun self is back."

Life wasn't always as much fun for the younger Mixon. A hip injury forced him to walk with a noticeable limp and he slipped into "a pool of depression," according to his mother, Timberly Mixon.

During a junior high football game at Watson Chapel Junior High School, K.D. was tackled when his foot got stuck in mud. The tackle hurt the eighth-grader's hip but the injury was dismissed as a pulled thigh muscle.

About a week later, the eighth-grader stepped in a pothole during football practice, shattering his hip.

In severe pain, K.D. was rushed to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, where his hip was pinned during surgery. After about three months, the pin was removed for the hip to heal itself.

K.D. walked on the injured hip with an obvious limp and could not participate in many recreational activities like running, roller skating and playing basketball. As a result, K.D.'s grades dropped and his zeal for life diminished.

"He would not want to go outside," his mother said in an interview at Victory Faith Church on Friday. "He didn't want to go with his friends. He didn't want to do anything."

After a family trip to an amusement park where K.D. was too injured to ride any rides, the family decided to seek other treatment.

"Eventually, we just decided there has go to be a better way," Timberly Mixon said.

Through a referral from Arkansas Children's Hospital at Little Rock, the family was introduced to Dr. C. Lowry Barnes, an orthopedic surgeon. Barnes determined that the younger Mixon would need a "ceramic-on-ceramic hip replacement," a rare procedure for a young patient.

The surgery was performed in May at St. Vincent Orthopedic Center at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center at Little Rock, offering the younger Mixon a chance to play sports and walk normally again.

"He has a great attitude and was anxious to get better," Barnes said. "He was a joy to take care for."

Although the surgery normally takes about three months to recuperate, K.D. kicked his crutches and cane away after seven weeks and has been back to normal ever since.

"Simple things I wasn't able to do -- those are the things I cherish and want to do more now," K.D. said.

After he recovered from the surgery, he even visited his former teachers at Jack Robey Junior High School to show off his new hip and attitude.

"He changed from that moment," his mother said. "His grades have improved and his outlook is more focused."

While he no longer plays football, K.D. enjoys playing basketball and participating in other activities on a hip that's as good as new.

"It healed so well and so quickly, it's as if he never had a hip replacement at all," the elder Mixon said. "If you meet him and didn't know he had surgery, you'd never know he had it."

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