Bates County Memorial Hospital Emergency Treatment for Ballard Farmer
Run-in with “Boss Hog” Leads to Emergency Treatment for Ballard Farmer In the first few minutes after an accidental encounter with one of his hogs that caused a deep gash on his leg, Alva Thornhill did not realize he needed emergency medical attention. Alva and his fiancé, Becki Smith, raise hogs and cattle on his family farm in Ballard, Missouri. While moving sows for breeding, he stepped between two boars to break up a fight, and as he did so, his leg became the unintended recipient of the boar’s tusk, mid swing. In that quick second, “Boss Hog”—normally a gentle animal with his caretakers—caused a significant laceration from under Alva’s kneecap to just above it. “I really didn’t think that it hurt anything. I told Becki I needed to sit down for a minute because it felt like it made my leg numb,” Alva recalls. Alva asked for a bandage, but a quick glance at his injury informed Becki this was not a Band-Aid situation. With the aid of their neighbor, Becki helped Alva into their truck, and she headed for the emergency room at Bates County Memorial Hospital. By the time they arrived, Alva’s sock was soaked with blood inside his chore boot. The accident occurred around 7:30 a.m. on November 7, a Saturday. After receiving stabilizing treatment in the BCMH emergency room, it was obvious to the ER physician on call, Dr. Robert Johnston, that Alva would need immediate surgery to repair extensive damage to his leg, which included a fractured femur with damage to his ACL and other cartilage structures around his knee. Alva had surgery around 12:30 pm that day, performed by Dr. Danny Carroll, orthopedic surgeon. Alva’s stay at BCMH was extended a few days
