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In 2007, IFBB Pro Kris Dim, 39, came face to face with death when he suffered a tear in the inner wall of his aorta. This potentially fatal incident caused massive blood flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta. The aorta is the highest pressure spot in the body, so when there is a rupture, there is bound to be serious ramafications. Basically, when this rare occurrence happens, the person generally dies very quickly. Aortic dissection has a 80% mortality rate and more than half of the people die before they even get to the hospital. Kris Dim miraculously survived this medical emergency and even competed again after his recovery! Sadly, Kris’ medical troubles only began in 2007. Recently, Kris went back under the knife to repair a stent. When Kris came out of surgery, his doctors told him, “Sorry, you have a spinal cord injury, and there is a chance that you will never walk again.”
I had never heard of someone having heart surgery and coming out of it paralyzed, so I called the most knowledgable person I know on medicine, IFBB Pro Dr. Victor Prisk. Dr. Prisk actually informed me that this does happen, although it is extremely rare. The chances of being paralyzed after surgery occurs in 12 out of 100,000 patients. The Artery of Adamkiewicz is the largest anterior segmental medullary artery and that is the artery that is connected to the spine from the aorta. If the artery has a spasm during surgery, in this case when the stent was being replaced, a stroke of the spinal cord can take place. The stroke can then stop circulation in the spinal column, causing the loss of the use and feeling in the legs.
I asked Dr. Prisk for Dim’s chances of recovery and even Dr. Prisk had to look this one up. He told me in a sullen voice, “There is a .03% chance that Kris will walk again.” In a text message Kris said. “I 100% believe that I will be walking again. I have feeling back in my legs, and I can move my knees and toes.” If you look back on all the astounding statistics in this story and in Kris’ life, you’ll find that either Kris Dim has been extremely lucky or extremely unlucky, depending on how you look at it. So, if there is anyone that can beat the odds, it is Kris Dim!
During my research for this story, I talked to a bunch of Kris’ friends and associates and everyone had very positive things to say about him. The universal theme of these conversations was sadness for Kris’ situation and the belief that if anyone could overcome such a dramatic obstacle, it was Kris. I know everyone at MuscleMag is behind him, and we all wish him a speedy full recovery!
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