Johannes' Story
November 27, 2019When Mark Meszaros' 13-year-old son Johannes went to block a shot while tending goal during an indoor soccer game at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, he fell on his arm and heard something snap.
"I saw him walk off the field in a fair amount of pain so I rushed over to him," said Mark. "He thought his wrist was broken."
Mark and his wife Rebecca knew Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring very well, so they decided to take Johannes to the Emergency Department at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, the closest hospital to the SoccerPlex and the only full-service emergency department in Germantown.
A Great Experience at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital
X-rays determined that Johannes had in fact broken a bone just above his wrist. "It was a clean break," said Cliff Poddar, PA, Emergency Department, Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, "but the bone had returned to its normal position, so we stabilized it so that it wouldn't move."
"The care team asked Johannes questions directly throughout the process and kept him calm through their attentiveness and kindness." - Mark Meszaros, pictured left with son Johannes.
Mark and Rebecca were very pleased with the care Johannes received in the Emergency Department. "The care team asked Johannes questions directly throughout the process and kept him calm through their attentiveness and kindness," said Mark. "They took care of everything right there in the emergency room, so we were able to return directly home when they were done."
The Holy Cross Germantown Hospital Emergency Department cares for all age groups who present with emergent or urgent care needs. Board-certified emergency physicians and highly skilled emergency physician assistants, nurses and technicians use a well-organized system of triage to assess patients and start an individualized plan of treatment.
Johannes' Birth
Mark and Rebecca's experiences with the Holy Cross Health system go back decades, and include the birth of Johannes and their two other children at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. While pregnant with Johannes, Rebecca had a medical emergency in the 27th week of her pregnancy, and she was rushed to Holy Cross Hospital where Johannes was born nearly three months early, weighing a little over two pounds.
"It was a frightening time," recalls Mark. "I could hold Johannes in the palm of my hand, and his little legs barely reached my arm. Holy Cross Hospital offered such advanced care—the level and depth was amazing, and the nursing staff was always so focused. "
Johannes spent three months in the neonatal intensive care unit before going home. "When we were finally able to take him home," said Mark, "it was like a literal weight was lifted off my shoulders that I hadn't even realized I was carrying. I'll never forget it."
Remarkably, Johannes did not require any type of monitoring or special care at home. "Thanks to the expert care he received when he was a baby, today Johannes is a healthy teenager and we're just so proud of all he's overcome and been able to accomplish," said Mark.
That same resilience is still evident in Johannes today. As soon as his broken arm was sufficiently healed, he was back in the goal making saves and moving the ball—and his life—ahead.