{"id":146638,"date":"2015-08-06T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=146638"},"modified":"2015-08-08T19:10:51","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T02:10:51","slug":"the-last-man-swimming-dr-scott-spann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/the-last-man-swimming-dr-scott-spann\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Man Swimming: Dr. Scott Spann"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

One second before a devastating collision that would change the course of his life, he wasn\u2019t thinking about the fact that he was a seven-time NCAA champion. As his ears heard the crunch of his bike\u2019s impact with the metal of the car, he wasn\u2019t thinking about the world records he\u2019d once held. As his body flew through the air, he wasn\u2019t thinking about his renowned surgical practice. As his head hit the unyielding pavement, he wasn\u2019t thinking about his son, who would follow his swimming path and would become a 2008 Olympian.<\/p>\n

Dr. Scott Spann<\/strong>\u2019s panicked mind was able to think about one thing: paralysis.<\/p>\n

Lying on the side of an Austin highway, waiting for paramedics to reach him, Spann knew that he had just become a quadriplegic.<\/p>\n

Defying the Odds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As his body lay motionless, Spann\u2019s mind swerved out of control. His medical mind raced to analyze his symptoms while he begged and bargained with God.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Him that if I survived, then I would do my best to make the very most of the rest of my life,\u201d Spann recounts.<\/p>\n

An orthopedic surgeon with nearly two decades of experience was abruptly transformed into a patient. At the hospital, doctors assessed the damage and told Spann that with surgery, extensive physical therapy, and the help of a cane he might<\/em> be able to walk again, someday. They grimly offered no assurances.<\/p>\n

The ensuing operation involved the removal of bone and ligaments in his neck, the insertion of plates and screws, and the extraction of bone from his hip. It was an an attempted restoration with no guarantees.<\/p>\n

\"spann1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"spann2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Encouragement came just days following the surgery, when Spann felt sensation in his hand. \u00a0After a few weeks, he could stand and begin physical therapy. One year after his surgery, Spann picked up the scalpel again. In 2012, seven years after his accident, he completed the aquabike Ironman. Now he spends his days competing in sprint triathlons and traveling the globe to share his research and to perform surgeries.<\/p>\n

\"spann8\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

\"spann7\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

No Pain, No Gain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Spann asserts there is no scientific basis for his recovery. He believes there is more for him to accomplish here, and credits his miraculous recovery to divine intervention.<\/p>\n

While he concludes the results are inexplicable, Spann maintains that the perseverance that enabled his recovery came from a core of steel developed in the water many years ago.<\/p>\n

\"spann8\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

As a swimmer, Spann and pain were well acquainted with one another even before his accident. To be a competitive swimmer, Spann believes you must possess extreme mental toughness. It is one thing to withstand the daily pain of the sport in order to participate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes even more to say, \u2018I like the pain and I\u2019m going to keep pushing even harder.\u2019 We learn to accept pain but also to work as hard as we can to achieve pain, because if we don\u2019t have it, then we must not have been working hard enough. Many people never experience that, and swimmers do that by design.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spann\u2019s familiarity with pain and endurance in swimming enabled him to push himself in physical therapy, to keep fighting through the bad days, and to continue to push himself past what others deemed \u201cpossible\u201d during his recovery.<\/p>\n

\"spann6\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cPain can be overwhelming for some and instructive for some. How you choose to incorporate that pain into how you move forward in life is very significant and largely dependent upon our experiences prior to the onset of pain,\u201d Spann explains.<\/p>\n

During his swimming career, Spann flirted with the border of sane pain tolerance every day. At each practice, he pushed himself beyond what he thought was possible, he befriended discomfort, and he distorted normality.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo simply exist on a swimming team, you have to do things that are way beyond the bounds of the work ethic any other sport mandates. And that\u2019s not to succeed in the sport, but just to be on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same lessons that propelled him to break world records in the pool propelled him to take a solitary step in the rehabilitation room. The same drive that helped him captain the Texas Longhorns to an NCAA victory later urged him to lift a finger weight.<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSwimmers are always held accountable to themselves,\u201d Spann adds. After a career in the pool, a swimmer simply does not know how to not<\/em> give their best, to not<\/em> work with unparalleled dedication, or to not<\/em> defy the odds.<\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cNone of us leave the world without a story. We will all have some story of loss in our lives. It\u2019s about taking our own individual story and writing it the way we\u2019re going to end up the happiest,\u201d Spann declares.<\/p>\n

Turning tragedy into transformation, Spann has rewritten his story in more ways than one. He continues to take huge strides, both literally and metaphorically. Spann is the first surgeon in the United States to use stem cells clinically, and he has independently created his own company for the production of a new spinal procedure model.<\/p>\n

This September will mark the tenth anniversary of Spann\u2019s biking accident. He still faces adversity every day, and just last summer, he had three more lumbar procedures.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI still have deficits,\u201d he says. He still walks with a limp and claims he \u201ccan win a dance contest just by walking across the dance floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201chow many people do you know who develop character with no stress or work? The adversity we encounter and how we handle it is the telling part for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spann\u2019s story certainly is telling of his character, yet he claims the power he harnessed is available to all.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the things that allowed me to keep going through that and to keep pushing forward are inherent or naturally-given. They are learned behaviors, most of which I obtained from swimming. I simply extrapolated and translated those same assets and attributes that every person in the sport has the opportunity to gather. You do not have to have the same level of success I did in swimming to develop those long-term qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSwimmers are an exceptional group of people by necessity,\u201d Spann asserts.<\/p>\n

Dr. Spann certainly fits the mold. For a man whose every step defies logic, \u2018exceptional\u2019 is quite an understatement.<\/p>\n

\u201cImpossibilities DO happen!\u201d Spann exclaims.<\/p>\n

Impossible is merely a word defined by its user.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Dr. Spann with his wife and their son, Scott Jr. at the Olympic Village in 2008. \u00a0Photo Courtesy: Dr. Scott Spann<\/p><\/div>\n

To learn more about Dr. Spann\u2019s story and current practice, visit his website and blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern One second before a devastating collision that would change the course of his life, he wasn\u2019t thinking about the fact that he was a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":146794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[252,53382,7706,35457,36113,251,53381,7717,102,53380,13152,1461,36889,12060,23960,53383,87,51377,62,458],"class_list":["post-146638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-competitive-swimmer","tag-first-surgeon-in-the-united-states","tag-metal","tag-mind","tag-modal-logic","tag-ncaa","tag-nervous-system","tag-olympian","tag-olympics","tag-orthopaedists","tag-orthopedic-surgeon","tag-pain","tag-perception","tag-scott-spann","tag-steel","tag-stem-cells","tag-swimmer","tag-tera-bradham","tag-united-states","tag-university-of-texas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nThe Last Man Swimming: Dr. Scott Spann<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Scott Spann\u2019s panicked mind was able to think about one thing: paralysis. 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