Surviving Traumatic Injury, Little by Little

Katie Buchholz always knew that she wanted to be a dancer.

"I had been taking classes since I was 4," Buchholz said. "By eighth grade, I told my parents that this is what I wanted to do with my life."

After graduating from college with a degree in dance, Buchholz set off from her Texas hometown to pursue her dream in Los Angeles. She spent several years working at a professional dance studio, teaching dance classes for children. She also danced on an international tour with a well-known children's entertainer. Buchholz was well on her way to the career of her dreams.

But on the night of July 3, 2024, one single moment changed everything.

A Life-Altering Incident

While driving home from an outing with friends, Buchholz sustained life-threatening injuries in a devastating, head-on car crash. She was rushed by an emergency services team to Cedars-Sinai.

"Katie came to us as a polytrauma, meaning she had multiple serious injuries, and required immediate intervention," said Yassar Hashim, MD, associate medical director of Trauma at Cedars-Sinai, who was the trauma surgeon on duty the night Buchholz arrived at the medical center. "She had to be intubated right away to secure her airway, and she received a massive blood transfusion to replace what she had lost due to her injuries from the accident."

Buchholz had major trauma to both legs, including a broken femur in her right leg and vascular and nerve injury in her left. She broke multiple ribs and her left wrist and had a traumatic brain injury from the impact of the crash.

As a Level I trauma center, Cedars-Sinai is equipped to handle complex injuries like Buchholz's.

"It's all about teamwork," Hashim said. "Each individual, from the trauma surgeons to the Emergency Department physicians, our residents, nurses and more, has a specific role. We follow our protocols and are trained to support these critically injured patients in an environment where every second counts."

Coordinated Care

As the attending trauma surgeon, Hashim had the role not only to save Buchholz's life, but to also help coordinate the multidisciplinary care she would need to manage her various injuries.

"There were a lot of teams involved," Hashim said. "Katie required care from my colleagues in orthopedics, vascular, plastic and reconstructive surgery, Surgical ICU, and more."

One of the many doctors she would encounter was Mitchel Seruya, MD, director of the Peripheral Nerve and Microsurgery Fellowship and professor of Surgery in the Jim and Eleanor Randall Department of Surgery. Seruya was called upon to repair the severe nerve injury in her left leg.

"The nerve that was severed is an important one because it feeds sensation in the bottom of the foot," Seruya said. "Especially because she's a dancer, she needs the feedback of that sensation to be able to feel where her foot is in space. If we couldn't repair it, the hope of getting back to a career in dance would have been out."

By harvesting a graft from the nerve that feeds her outer calf and sewing under a microscope with a suture thread that is finer than a doll hair, Seruya was able to reconstruct the injured nerve. The fix is not immediate, though, as electricity goes through the graft at the rate of about an inch per month. As time goes on, sensation will return as it continues to improve.

Little by Little

After being discharged from Cedars-Sinai, Buchholz went home to Texas for several months to stay with her parents.

"I still needed so much help at the beginning," Buchholz said.

She worked diligently with physical, occupational and speech therapists to improve her strength and coordination. Through her determination and positive attitude, she saw progress. By July 2025, just one year after her accident, she was able to move back to Los Angeles to restart her life and career, even if it looks a little different than what she initially imagined.

"I know this is a long journey, but I live by the mantra of 'little by little,'" Buchholz said. "Whether it's being able to blow my own nose, relearning how to walk, or being able to lift heavier weights, I celebrate every incremental step as a win."

Even while she waits for the nerve regrowth to get full sensation back to her foot, she continues her therapies and has returned to teaching at a local children's dance studio. She believes her passion influences her healing.

"I was a dancer; I am a dancer," Buchholz said. "I have progressed so much physically and mentally because I am determined to get back eventually."

Her physicians praise this positive outlook.

"It is priceless to have patients with this kind of glass-half-full attitude," Seruya said. "Their mindset helps heal them."

Inspiring Others

Buchholz is sharing her story at Cedars-Sinai's upcoming Trauma Survivors Reunion on Monday, June 8. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Cedars-Sinai is bringing together trauma survivors, physicians, nurses, social workers, emergency services professionals and other medical staff to celebrate the strength of their patients who overcame life-altering injuries.

At the reunion, she will be able to reconnect with Hashim, the trauma surgeon who helped save her life.

"Because of my brain injury, I have no memories from immediately before or after my accident," Buchholz said. "I may not recognize the people who were there that night, but I'm excited to meet them and say, 'Thank you.'"

Hashim is looking forward to the event as well.

"We receive critically injured patients and see them in their most vulnerable state, often with no one else but us to advocate for them," Hashim said. "I am excited to see Katie again and see how far she has come. These kinds of things are what make my job so rewarding. She went from struggling for her life to speaking at our event. It's remarkable."

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