At 2 in the morning and while I was caring for my hospitalized patients, my pager went off. The message was short: “30-year-old male. Unstable spinal fracture after border fall.” I think of all the similar pages I have received in my three years as a resident physician in neurosurgery in San Diego: young individuals with life-changing severe injuries that they sustained falling from the wall that separates the United States from Mexico. The Trump administration raised sections of this wall to 30 feet high rather than 8 to 10 feet, after which more falls caused more serious injuries.
Before seeing the patient, I took a moment to look at the MRI: He had a severe spinal cord injury. I walked over to the trauma unit and saw the terrified young man, lying immobile with a collar supporting his neck. Instead of concerned family, he was surrounded by Border Patrol officers. I sensed his despair and then his relief when I spoke to him in Spanish. I told him that we would care for him as best we could, but that he would need surgery. He started to cry. As I examined him to determine the extent of his injuries, checking whether he could feel my hand or wiggle his toes, I asked him to tell me about himself.
He told me why he came: “Ya era muy peligroso para mi y mi familia en el pueblo.” It was too dangerous for me and my family back home.
