Train Accident Survivor Says Thank You, Every Year

As is so often the case when a child gets hurt and can’t remember anything that happened, the patient’s parents remember everything. Ziniti’s parents, Thomas and Nancy, were no exception. First, the call from Dr. Rhynhart, then chief of trauma, alerting them to what had happened: ‘I’ll take care of your boy, drive safe, we’ll figure this all out,’ Dr. Rhynhart told them. Then, the panicked three-hour drive from just outside Boston to DHMC in Lebanon, New Hampshire, much of that time spent wondering if their son would be alive when they arrived. Recalls Thomas Ziniti, “I kept saying ‘We have to keep it together, we may have to make decisions before we even get there.’”

Once they arrived at the hospital, they learned the full extent of his injuries: Matthew had a traumatic brain injury, torn ligaments, facial fractures including a shattered eye socket, a shattered ear bone, and a destroyed pituitary gland.

The coming hours and days would be grueling: Matthew, his parents, and his three brothers are a close, religious family. “His brothers were all crying, we went to Mass in the hospital chapel, my heart was just broken. At that time, we just didn’t know what was going to happen,” says Nancy. Adds Thomas, “We were wondering if he would he walk again.”

But somehow, they also knew their tough kid was going to make it. “You tell Matthew he can’t do something and he goes out and does it. He’s a fighter, and strong as a bull.”

He spent six days in a medically induced coma in the ICU, and a total of about two weeks at DHMC before heading to Braintree Rehab Hospital (now Encompass Rehab Hospital in Braintree, Massachusetts) for inpatient rehab for about a month before being released, eventually returning to Norwich to finish his studies. He continued outpatient rehabilitation in Watertown through the following June.

These days, says Matthew, life is good: For the past four years he’s been a postal carrier in Attleboro, Massachusetts, a job he’s proud to have. It’s a walking route, where the outgoing Matthew chats with residents as he makes his deliveries. He continues to take medication because of the damage to his pituitary gland, but otherwise, things are pretty normal. Since recovering, he’s completed four marathons, enjoys hunting, fishing, and line dancing. And, whenever he’s making his way back up to Vermont to visit friends, he enjoys stopping by to see Dr. Rhynhart.

His first visit was a surprise pop-in with his father, in the spring of 2012. “Matthew knocks on my door and says, ‘You don’t remember me,’ and then his father says, ‘But you remember me,’ and it was incredible,” recalls Dr. Rhynhart. “Here Matthew had this really bad head injury, and when I saw him that spring, he was back to completely normal.”

Matthew says the drop-in visits are just as meaningful to him.

“Dartmouth Hitchcock is my home; without that hospital, I wouldn’t be talking to you today,” he says.

Looking back 15 years on, Matthew’s parents say it wasn’t just the medical care that they appreciated, it was the personal care, too, even that first night. “Here we are, up at 1 or 2 in the morning, and the nurses helped us get a hotel room, gave us toothbrushes and toothpaste and patient gowns to sleep in. They were just wonderful,” says Nancy.

As those early days turned into weeks, Dr. Rhynhart’s connection to the family grew.

“It was the fact that he included us as part of the care team. That made us feel good,” says Thomas. “He wanted us to know everything, he gave us choices, we trusted his judgement and worked well together.”

Dr. Rhynhart remembers, too.

“I kind of connected with them, because that’s what they needed, was that kind of support. And it wasn’t just me, it was the whole trauma team, the team in the ICU. I feel like all of us tried to take care of the family.”

As a trauma surgeon, says Dr. Rhynhart, “We are meeting people at their worst time, and we’re there to take care of them medically and hopefully get them through it. But the other part of our job is taking care of the family and helping them navigate through that.”

There was also a military connection: The Zinitis are a military family, and Matthew was meant to commission as a U.S. Army officer after graduating from Norwich. Dr. Rhynhart, who graduated from Boston University School of Medicine and interned at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center who went to spent four years in the Army and spent a year in Iraq as a trauma surgeon. He works at the White River Junction VA Medical Center as well as DHMC.

“We’ve all had patients pass on, or bad traumas; it’s a hard job. But Matthew was different; he’s thriving. I can look at Matthew’s case and say, that’s why we do it. Matthew is the perfect case for why I do this job.”

For Matthew, the gratitude has only grown during the 15 years since the accident.

“I wholeheartedly recommend Dartmouth Hitchcock to anyone seeking not only exceptional medical treatment, but a team that truly fights for their patients. I am living proof of what they can do.”