Patient Stories
Radial Shaft Fracture Treatment: Jonas's Story
Date posted: 4/14/2026
Last updated: 4/14/2026
Table of Contents
At age 15, Jonas Gregory of Joliet was looking forward to his waterskiing and summer fishing trip with his dad. They were excited to catch blue gills, muskie, and walleye -- and to maybe eat some for dinner. Mostly they were looking forward to spending time together and participating in their favorite past time before football practice and classes started again at Joliet Central High School.
While his dad finished loading the car, Jonas decided to blow off energy by jumping on the family’s backyard trampoline. He had socks on which made the surface a bit more slippery. He slipped, landing on his backside. When Jonas put his arms behind him to push off the trampoline, he felt a snap and heard a pop in his left arm. He fell over and realized his arm just wasn’t working.
Making matters worse, he observed a bone sticking out of his forearm at a 90-degree angle. Jonas screamed for his dad who came running.
A Trampoline Accident Causes a Severe Forearm Fracture
“It was the worst pain of my life,” Jonas said. “I was really hurting and scared.”
Quickly upon the scene, his dad, Keith, was shocked to see that Jonas had broken the exact same bone that he did at about the same age.
“I couldn’t believe the same fracture happened to him,” Keith says. “At that point I knew exactly what was in front of him.”
Keith knew that Jonas’ arm had to be stabilized before they could get help. He grabbed cardboard, wrapped it around Jonas’ arm, and bound it tightly with strong tape.
Once they arrived at the busy local emergency department, Jonas was given Tylenol and waited for several hours. Once taken back to a room, he was sedated while the emergency staff reset his bone and applied a cast. Disagreeing one provider’s advice to do nothing and go home, the family asked for the name of a good specialist.
Finding an Upper Extremity Specialist for Forearm Fracture Surgery
The emergency department physician recommended Dr. Nitin Goyal, a hand, wrist, and elbow surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. The next day, Dr. Goyal saw Jonas in his Joliet office, asked his patient a lot of questions, and ordered imaging to fully understand the extent of the fracture. He explained that Jonas had sustained a radial and ulnar shaft fracture.
“Jonas had a displaced bone forearm fracture, which is a fracture involving both the radius and ulna bones,” Dr. Goyal explains. “Even more concerning was that his ulnar nerve, critical to supplying sensation and motor function to the hand, was not functioning. Given this, I recommended that we urgently evaluate the ulnar nerve and stabilize the fractures to maximize his chance of having feeling in his upper extremity. I added him on to my surgery schedule that evening after my clinic because I wanted to address any potential nerve issue as soon as possible.”
Jonas appreciated the way Dr. Goyal explained his injury and exactly what he would do in surgery. He agreed to the procedure.
The surgery at Silver Cross Hospital went extremely well, and Dr. Goyal explained that he performed a nerve exploration in addition to installing plates and screws to stabilize Jonas’ radius and ulna bones.
“Jonas’ ulnar nerve was caught within the ulna fracture, which is why his nerve was not functioning,” Dr. Goyal explains. “Fortunately, it was intact and we were able to free it and move it out of harm’s way. We then put his radius and ulna in a better position and stabilized them with plates and screws.”
Recovering Full Arm Function and Returning to Football After Surgery
Jonas went home the same day as surgery with a splint and a goal to return to football as soon as possible. The rest of the summer he limited his activities, including avoiding swimming, another of his favorite past times.
Just two months following surgery, he returned to see Dr. Goyal.
“He was more than pleased with how my bone had healed,” Jonas recalls. “Of course, I asked him if I could return to football yet.”
Dr. Goyal carefully explained the risks but gave Jonas the all-clear to return to the field.
“I was so happy to be back playing football,” Jonas says. “I felt a little nervous at first but wrapped up my forearm carefully before each practice and game.”
He completed the season injury-free and received an offer to play collegiate football.
“I was very pleased that Jonas’ nerve recovered fully,” Dr. Goyal says. “It is an uncommon situation, but when it happens, it needs to be addressed carefully and expeditiously.”
Today, at age 18, and a high school graduate, Jonas fully enjoys his life and work. He loves working alongside his dad in the family’s land surveying business which involves lifting and carrying pieces of equipment, some of which require complicated set up. He has 100% function of his arm.
And of course, he fishes with no limitations whenever possible.
“Dr. Goyal is awesome,” Jonas says. “He’s an excellent surgeon and really impressed me with his kindness and professionalism. But most of all, he impressed me the way he put my arm back together so well.”
