KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Surgery has been scheduled for the Knox County deputy who needed lifesaving surgery after an injury, said his girlfriend, Stephania Pumphrey.
After being hit in the head with a large rock or brick while on duty, Dalton Swanger was in critical condition. After this, his trachea narrowed to just two millimeters when it should have been between 16 and 18, Pumphrey said. Swanger and his girlfriend began seeking tracheal resection surgery, describing it as his “only option,” but only a few hospitals in the country are capable of performing it, she said.
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On Saturday night, Pumphrey said that the surgery had been scheduled. She thanked everyone who had prayed for, messaged or donated to them.
She previously explained that a tracheal resection involves cutting out the part of his trachea that has narrowed and reattaching the remaining sections. She said it is “A huge surgery with an extremely long recovery time.”…