In several previous posts here on SMUG and also on the Mayo Clinic News Blog and Podcast Blog, I’ve told the story about
- Dr. Richard Berger’s discovery of the UT ligament split tear wrist injury,
- how I got to interview one of his patients (Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth) using a Flip video camera,
- how that led to a story in USA Today when the Phillies qualified for the World Series last year,
- how we joined USA Today in co-sponsoring a Twitter chat about wrist injuries with Dr. Berger,
- how a patient from Washington, D.C. named Erin Turner, who participated in that chat, came to Mayo Clinic for surgery as a result, and
- how Erin got to meet Jayson in April when the Phillies opened their season against the Nationals, which led to another story in USA Today.
Now WABC TV in New York has run a story about diagnosing mysterious wrist injuries, featuring Jayson and another another patient Dr. Berger has helped return to recreational golfing. It’s on ABC.com:
Social media tools such as YouTube and Twitter, while not directly mentioned in the WABC story, have played a huge role in spreading the word about Dr. Berger’s research discovery.
And as a result, many more patients will, like Erin, have an opportunity for a future without chronic wrist pain.
This post, which we put on the Mayo Clinic News Blog at the time of the first USA Today article and Twitter chat, has a list of the surgeons who have trained with Dr. Berger since he discovered the UT split. We’re sure many patients have been helped by these other surgeons as well.
This latest WABC story will continue to accelerate the diffusion of this research discovery, helping to fulfill the promise of social media as outlined in Thesis 33.
And in case you’re wondering how Jayson is doing now, check out his walk-off home run from yesterday’s game.