Brought Home to the Best
Bruce Drake doesn’t walk as briskly as he could a couple years ago. But the restaurateur and co-founder of Bluegrass Hospitality Group is thankful to be walking at all after part of his pelvis ripped through his skin during an accident.
One moment, Bruce was ruminating on his beloved Kentucky Wildcats' loss to Clemson in the 2023 Gator Bowl, which he and his three sons had just witnessed. A moment later, he was barely conscious on the side of a Florida highway after their van collided with a stalled semi-truck.
His sons rescued Bruce from the vehicle before an ambulance rushed him to a Jacksonville hospital. Doctors there stabilized him but weren't sure how best to proceed with his surgery. There was also concern it might take a few days to schedule, which increased the risk of infection.
UK HealthCare's Dr. Darren Johnson is UK Athletics’ team physician and knew Bruce well. When he learned of the accident, he got in touch with Bruce's wife, Melinda, and insisted the family do everything possible to get him back to Kentucky.
“The power of family and being home with your own people is something just as powerful as medicine,” Dr. Johnson said.
Dr. Raymond Wright, an orthopaedic trauma surgeon and globally recognized leader in pelvic repair, was also eager to help Bruce. Instead of playing the waiting game in Jacksonville, Bruce would get world-class care in Lexington — if he could get there. Within a day, thanks to a family friend who used to work in medical transport, Bruce was on a plane bound for UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital.
Fortunately, though Bruce’s injury appeared gruesome, it isn’t the kind of pelvic fracture typically associated with high mortality. Still, though, “it’s always a surgical emergency any time a bone comes through the outside of your skin,” Dr. Wright said. “It’s pretty unusual to get a pelvis fracture that’s open to the air like his.”
Bruce could not have been more impressed with Dr. Wright’s bedside manner.
“He was a gift from God,” Bruce said. “You’re in a traumatic situation, and you’re scared and you’re worried. All of a sudden, he just takes all that anxiety away from you.”
Bruce stayed in the ICU for nine days after his surgery, which lasted several hours and required the placement of six long screws. Afterward, he went to physical therapy to regain mobility.
Moving isn’t as easy as it once was, and Bruce still struggles to play golf, his favorite hobby. But he values the care he received in the moment and since his accident — and loves that it’s available to every Kentuckian in need.
“If I was anywhere in Kentucky and I had a traumatic injury,” Bruce said, “why would I want to go to any other hospital?”
