Stories

Shawn Davis was struck by a drunk driver 20 years ago, flipping his car, breaking his neck and leaving him a quadriplegic. Up until this year, Shawn was very healthy but in February a cold developed into bilateral pneumonia that threatened his life, and he was rushed to St. Mary Medical Center. Shawn’s best friend, Jeremiah Krieger, recounts the dedication and attention pulmonologist Dr. Ricardo Gomez gave to Shawn during his time at St. Mary.

THROUGH A FRIEND’S EYE

Shawn and I have been best friends since we were 11-years-old. Shawn is one of the most remarkable people I know. He has an amazing mind, an amazing heart and an amazing attitude. He had a full scholarship to Dartmouth College, but was hit by a drunk driver while on his way to work in the morning.

The impact from the crash flipped his car and broke his neck—dramatically altering the course of his life.

Shawn has been a real source of inspiration to me. He is always with a gratitude about life. He feels so blessed to be healthy despite being left quadriplegic from the accident nearly 20 years ago.

In February 2016, Shawn got what we thought was a simple cold but within four days it turned into severe bilateral pneumonia. His life was threatened and was taken by paramedics to St. Mary Medical Center.

“I’m not a big worrier and I had been sick before,” says Shawn. “Typically I would just take medicine for a few days and would feel better…but this was just different. I remember the paramedics and then remember being put into the ambulance. Overall I was pretty disoriented and was not able to breathe that well so they had to put me on oxygen.”

The ambulance immediately rushed Shawn to St. Mary.

When Shawn arrived at the hospital, he was assigned to pulmonologist, Dr. Ricardo Gomez. The dedication and the attention that he gave Shawn, no matter how busy he may had been caring for so many patients, was remarkable. I saw Dr. Gomez there well past the time his shift had ended where he was sitting at the nursing station, watching Shawn’s vitals and making sure he was okay.

Dr. Gomez performed numerous bronchoscopies on Shawn—one of them going on for more than three hours—as he tried to open up his airways. He wanted to do it in a way that would not cause any further complications.

Cedars Sinai and UCLA both reviewed Shawn’s case for a potential transfer, but determined that there was nothing different or better they could offer Shawn that what Dr. Gomez was already providing. They were so impressed with Dr. Gomez’s care.

I am so grateful for the care Shawn received—I still have my best friend.