Helping Athletes One Player At A Time

By Madison Burke

When Southern Boone High School senior Trint Lederle injured his shoulder weightlifting, he didn’t know his injury would jumpstart a desire for a career in medicine, but it did.

Trint tore his labrum while weightlifting with some of his fellow soccer players this spring. The injury caused him a lot of pain and limited his movement and ability to be as active as he liked.

“Luckily my senior soccer season was already over, but I wasn’t able to work out and do as much weightlifting as I liked to do,” says Trint.

One of Trint’s friends had had a similar injury and recommended he go to Columbia Orthopaedic Group to get it looked at. But before he even went to his first visit at Columbia Orthopaedic, Trint dove into research about torn labrums.

“I wanted to know all that I could. I found it all fascinating. I had already thought I might want a career in medicine, but this really was making that clear to me,” says Trint.

Once at Columbia Orthopaedic Group, Trint saw sports injury specialist Josh Hamann, MD. Dr. Hamann specializes in working with athletes with knee and shoulder injuries.

“When I met Dr. Hamann, he explained all of my options to me. I told him I was interested in surgery, and we discussed what would be best together,” says Trint.

Dr. Hamann explained surgery was likely the best choice for Trint so that he could be as active as he wanted to be.

“Surgery would allow Trint to do the athletic activities he wanted to do without the pain and limitations he was currently experiencing,” says Dr. Hamann.

Dr. Hamann says he always discusses all options with his patients to make sure they will get the result they hope for.

“It’s important for me to listen and understand what the patient’s goals are.  I try to educate patients of their options so we can make a treatment decision together,” says Dr. Hamann.

Trint notes how Dr. Hamann is able to relate to athletes, since he suffered from his own torn ACL when he was a high school basketball player.

“He really knows what it’s like to have to sit out and not do what you love. He wants to get us back to normal as soon as possible,” says Trint.

Trint says he was inspired by Dr. Hamann’s knowledge about his injury, as well as his ability to listen and make him feel comfortable. He says he had all his questions answered, and he really had no apprehension going into surgery.

When the surgery was over, Dr. Hamann showed Trint the video of his surgery. Trint thought the video was amazing and decided he would like to become an orthopaedic surgeon someday, just like Dr. Hamann.

 “When Trint told me that he would like to become a doctor like me, it was really exciting. I invited him to come shadow me at Columbia Orthopaedic Group,” says Dr. Hamann.

Trint has shadowed Dr. Hamann two times and just started his undergraduate studies in Biology and Pre-Medicine at St. Louis University.

“It’s so cool to see the next generation inspired about helping people, and it’s awesome to share my passion for athletic injuries with Trint.,” says Dr. Hamann.

Dr. Hamann’s passion for injuries has lead him to become involved in STOP Sports Injuries program (Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention), where he is a national committee member of the group.  STOP Sports Injuries is dedicated to reducing athletic injuries in kids.

Dr. Hamann is currently accepting patients. You can make an appointment with him by calling Columbia Orthopaedic Group at 573.443.2402. You can also visit columbiaorthogroup.com or stopsportsinjuries.org to learn more about sport injury treatment.