IA Podiatrist's Diagnosis and Referral Lead to Athlete's Gold Medal
It was four weeks to competition day. Cory Sonner of Huxley, then 33, had been lifting mammoth objects, pulling vehicles using muscle alone, flipping huge tires over and over again, and doing other strength-defying acts. He was preparing for his fifth Iowa Games Strongman competition. He felt a pop in his left calf. "I just stopped," he says. He thought there was no chance he'd be able to do similar feats in just 29 days. But Sonner, whose mother is a nurse, promptly sought professional expertise. He consulted with Linda Bratkiewicz, DPM, a podiatrist with The Iowa Clinic, and learned that he had a partially torn left calf muscle.
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Dr. Linda Bratkiewicz |
Dr. Bratkiewicz referred him to The Iowa Clinic's physical therapy team for treatment. The day before the Strongman competition, Bratkiewicz also wrapped Sonner's calf and fitted him with a compression sleeve for the competition. Sonner "flew through" the event repeatedly flipping a 630-pound tractor tire, running a relay race carrying 150-pound bean bags, and pulling a National Guard bullet-proof Hummer 100 feet – and he did it all faster than anyone else in his division. That earned him the gold medal.
Source: BJ Towe, The Des Moines Register [11/1/15]
