Chloe's story: Back to playing the piano after a serious hand injury

Every Christmas, Chloe’s grandpa reads The Christmas story. Then her family says a prayer, giving thanks for being together. That prayer took on new meaning in 2025, as they looked around the table, especially grateful for one another — because two weeks earlier, Chloe and her cousins hit black ice on the way to church and her truck flipped over.

“Send her home to Texas”

One of Chloe’s cousins was able to climb out the truck’s back window. Their friends, a few cars behind them, stopped traffic and called 911.

It was a miracle that all four of them got out of the truck, mostly okay. But Chloe’s left hand was bleeding a lot. The ambulance rushed Chloe to a hospital in the Illinois town where she goes to college.

Chloe’s mom, Valerie, got the call every parent dreads and stayed on the line as Chloe rode in the ambulance. Emergency doctors cleaned and stitched up Chloe’s left hand – and recommended amputating the tip of her left middle finger because the bone and tissue were damaged so badly.

Valerie wasn’t sure about the amputation and asked if Chloe was stable enough to fly. Yes, the doctors told her.

“Then send her home to Texas,” Valerie said. “We can get her to any specialist she needs in Dallas.”

Chloe started to process everything that had happened on the plane home.

Less than 48 hours later they were at Children’s Health℠ Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, meeting Jennifer Kargel, M.D., Pediatric Hand Surgeon at Children’s Health and Associate Professor at UT Southwestern.

A different care plan

Dr. Kargel has special training and years of expertise caring for kids with hand and arm injuries – from traumatic injuries like Chloe’s to nerve problems to hand-related conditions kids are born with. She closely examined Chloe’s injury and was honest: Her finger may or may not heal.

“Kids are often able to heal in ways that older people might not,” Dr. Kargel told them. “So, we may have to amputate if it doesn’t heal properly or if it gets infected. But there’s no need to amputate today.”

Instead, Sarah Garza, Occupational Therapist at Children’s Health, fit her with a custom brace to protect her hand and Chloe attended a few follow up appointments over the holidays.

Expert care, miles apart

In the weeks that followed, people kept asking if Chloe was going to take a semester off because of her injury, or if she was scared to drive again. She didn’t even consider taking a break from school and soon bought a new truck (one that drives well in snow) with insurance money from the accident.

In January, Chloe started her new semester – and started training herself to play the piano without using her middle finger. In February, she flew home and got a smaller brace to protect her fingertip. Then, during spring break, she was cleared for all activities.

Dr. Kargel and Garza then discussed how to help Chloe build the strength and dexterity she needs for other activities, like typing, taking care of horses and babysitting. Chloe went back to school with putty to squeeze and shape to strengthen her hand and fingers.

"The exercises help strengthen her grip and improve the coordination of her fingers,” Dr. Kargel says. “That finger doesn’t quite work as well as the others but she’s able to do coordinated motions and use her hands in many different ways.”

Just a few months after the accident, Chloe is back to her favorite activities, like playing the piano (using all of her fingers) and horseback riding. She only missed one day of college for her care, finished the semester with straight A’s and is well on her way toward her goal of becoming a teacher.

“The Children’s [Health] team was always there for me, they did everything they could so my hand is the best it can be,” she says. “I also prayed a lot and I knew others were praying for me. And I learned that you can’t just stop life when bad things happen, you just have to keep going and it will get better.”

Learn more

The Fogelson Plastic Surgery Center's Congenital and Pediatric Hand Surgery Program at the Children’s Health Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine offers expert and compassionate care tailored to each child’s needs and goals. Our team works together to give kids the highest level of function and to make care as easy on families as possible. Learn more.