6-year-old UAB patient back to playing baseball after traumatic injury to hand

By: Savannah Koplon

Most children have dreams of what they want to be when they grow up: a doctor, a teacher, a chef. For Waylon Marshall, age 6, being a baseball player has long been a goal.

That dream was shifted in November 2022 when he was in a car accident with his father and sister. In the midst of the crash, Waylon’s left hand got stuck. What happened next is still unknown to first responders and his treating physicians, but Waylon’s pinky, ring and middle fingers severed on impact, with only two fingers recovered at the scene.

Waylon was rushed to the emergency department at Children’s of Alabama, where he was met by University of Alabama at Birmingham orthopedic hand surgeon Dr. Karlee Lau Loftin, assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Immediately prepped and sent into a surgery lasting more than 12 hours, Loftin and team worked diligently to provide vascular function back to his hand, while also attempting to reattach his pulled fingers.

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