COLUMBUS, Ohio — In Michigan, you either root for the Spartans or the Wolverines.
Stacey Finley, of Romeo, Michigan, is no exception. The maize and blue runs in her blood.
“That’s just a given, that if you are from here, you are not an Ohio State fan,” Finley said. “It is kind of a culture.”
However, this year, the diehard Michigan fan is conflicted about who to cheer for when the Wolverines take on the Buckeyes at the 'Shoe.
Last year, ahead of The Game, Finley was recovering from a life-altering surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“I was like, who do I even root for? How can I sit in this hospital and root for Michigan when I am being taken apart by Ohio State and being put back together by them?” Finley said.
In July 2021, Finley’s left leg was amputated after suffering from a bone infection.
She said that she had been having issues with knee replacements and revisions for years. She made the difficult decision to have her leg amputated in hopes that it would give her some mobility back to continue her passion, riding horses and working as a hairstylist.
Afterward, Finley was struggling to use the prosthetic leg, even for simple activities like getting dressed and sitting down.
“The two years I was in a socket, it was a façade, I was putting on a brave face,” she said.
Finley said that someone in the horse industry approached her about it. He was a Marine in Afghanistan and had been affected by an IED explosion.
"...He told me ‘I don’t think this is working for you’, ‘I think you need to go see my surgeon’,” Finley said.
He connected her to Dr. Jason Souza, a plastic surgeon and director of the Advanced Amputation Program at the Wexner Medical Center.
Souza specializes in a procedure called Osseointegration, which helps amputees regain mobility and quality of life.
He said the technology evolved from dental implants and gives amputees more control over their limbs.
“We basically put in a titanium implant into the bone, let the bone grow into the implant and use that implant to directly connect the residual limbs. So in her case, her thigh to her prosthetic without the need for a socket,” Souza said. “What is really powerful about it is we are connecting to her robotic or her prosthetic leg in the way the limb is supposed to be connected.”
Finley could not find anyone in Michigan who could do the procedure.
“I was like, I guess I am going to Ohio State and I got a lot of bantering from that from my son and my brother who lives in Ann Arbor,” she said.
She got the implant in November 2023, right before Michigan beat Ohio State. Now, Finley is finally back to riding horses with ease and has her quality of life back.
“Stacey has been an incredible patient. That is one of the most rewarding parts of this job for me... for so long amputation care has been viewed as a surgical failure and something no one wanted to be part of,” Souza said. “We have been able to offer a quality of life and degree of function no one would have ever thought possible, so the fun part for me is to be able to offer surgery like this technology and have people like Stacey who are motivated and want to show the world what is possible after limb loss.”
Souza was part of the first-ever team to work with the technology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, working with wounded veterans, like Finley’s friend.
He was his second-ever Osseointegration patient.
Finley had never heard of the procedure before. She wants other amputees to know there is hope.
“I know there is not the availability of the surgeons, but it was just so life-changing for me I wish that was the standard of care for people who want to live their life like I do,” Finley said.
So this year, we asked Finley who she will root for in The Game.
“This year I don't know. I kind of really like winning teams,” she said.