In September 2024, Dr. Xie went on a trip to Switzerland, where on the 2nd day of the trip, she fell from a 300-foot-tall mountain while hiking. Surprisingly, she survived the fall, but unfortunately sustained multiple injuries, including several broken bones, a traumatic brain injury and multiple spinal fractures that left her paralyzed from the chest down. She was airlifted to the hospital for treatment.
As a child, she had always wanted to be a doctor and help people. That goal became a reality when she was hired at Hennepin Healthcare 15 years ago.
She has also been a public health activist; during COVID, she was a part of a doctor’s panel and conducted conferences urging people to get vaccinated and avoid large crowds.
After her accident, she was left feeling helpless. Throughout her professional career, she had always helped people; now she was the one in need of help.
Over the following two years, she worked on rebuilding her independence and adapting to life in a wheelchair while working toward her goal of returning to patient care.
Dr. Xie mentioned that the accident had made her more empathetic towards her patients. Earlier, when she checked on her patients, she always had that feeling of empathy towards them, knowing that they might be in a fragile situation. But now she has experienced this herself. She had been in such a situation where people had been telling her how things were going to be, how to deal with their situation. But none of them actually got what it is really like.
She also credited her colleagues for making her feel comfortable. She has now returned to Hennepin Healthcare, where she is seeing patients again after nearly two years away from practising medicine. She added that everyone has been so supportive; doctors are used to working 7 days a week, amounting to approximately 80 hours, but the management allowed her to initially report to the centre 1 or 2 days a week, so that she could get used to her new routine.
She is currently working about one day a week as she gradually adjusts to being back in the hospital. Her colleagues have also helped accommodate her wheelchair, including assigning her to rooms where she can maneuver comfortably and reach patients.
She was also worried about how her patients might perceive her, seeing her in a wheelchair, and what it would be like to practice medicine while navigating in a wheelchair.
Still, she says her spirit has been unshaken throughout. She has always strived to care for people when they are most vulnerable. After two years of hard work and perseverance, she is back where she fought so hard to be.
(Rh/MF/MSM)