Glen Rock, NJ Man Has Cervical Fusion Surgery, Home by Dinner

On the morning of his cervical fusion surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center, Steve Bermack was nervous.

The 55-year-old Glen Rock resident hadn’t had surgery since he was a kid  — and for months he’d been trying to recover from a ski accident that left him with 20 broken bones in his back, neck and ribs.

But as it turned out, Steve had no reason to worry.

The surgery went off without a hitch, and “much to everyone’s amazement, I was able to go out for dinner with my family that evening,” he says.

A Freak Ski Accident

Steve has been skiing since he was 9 years old.

In February 2022, he was on an intermediate trail in Vermont with his kids, then 16 and 13, when he hit a patch of ice he didn’t see on the overcast slope. He was skiing a little too close to the edge and fell down a small drop-off into a tree. His helmet cracked, and he was briefly knocked unconscious. 

“It was a perfect storm of bad coincidences,” he says.

His daughter stayed with him while his son flagged down another skier to call the ski patrol. A team worked carefully to get Steve onto a sled and down the mountain.

“It was horrible for my kids to see this, but I’ve always been a very positive person,” says Steve. “Once I was able to talk to my kids, talk to the paramedics and do OK on the memory tests — I had to repeat the words ‘popcorn’ and ‘horse’ — I knew I was going to be OK.”

He was taken to a local hospital, where he stayed for two days. After doctors confirmed he wasn’t bleeding internally, they released him to go home.

Coming Home for Care

The drive back to New Jersey was excruciating. Within a week, he met with Hooman Azmi, M.D., director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at HMH. 

Dr. Azmi said that most of Steve’s fractures would heal on their own and would not require surgery. But he noticed something more serious: Steve’s C5 and C6 vertebrae, located at the bottom of the neck, were unstable.

“When I looked down, it felt like an electric current was running down my body,” Steve recalls. “It didn’t hurt, but it felt like my whole body was humming. I knew that wasn’t normal.”

Dr. Azmi recommended cervical fusion surgery and brought in John Koerner, M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon and associate professor of Orthopedic Surgery at HMH.

“I knew that if Steve didn’t have surgery, he would soon develop serious neck pain or worse,” says Dr. Koerner. 

Dr. Azmi and Dr. Koerner performed the cervical fusion together in June 2022. 

The 90-minute procedure was minimally invasive. Through an incision in the front of Steve’s neck, the team removed the disc between his C5 and C6 vertebrae and inserted a spacer with a metal plate that screwed into both bones.

“This locks that level together as one, and, over time, the bone grows across there and becomes one level essentially,” says Dr. Koerner.

Steve was prepped for surgery at around 7 a.m. By 1 p.m., he was back in his hospital room. By 4 p.m., he was discharged.

 “I was so surprised by how I felt afterward,” says Steve. “There was no pain.”

Back on the Slopes

Although Steve didn’t need postoperative physical therapy, Dr. Koerner did ask him to sit out high-impact activity for about six months. 

That fall, Steve ran his first 5K since the accident. By January 2023, less than a year after the accident, he was back on his skis.

“If you’re not a skier, it’s hard to understand the appeal,” he says. “But if you are, you get it. It’s hard to give it up.”

He now skis closer to the middle of the slope than he used to: “The trees and I have an understanding,” he jokes.

Four years later, Steve has no lingering side effects. He’s done a few triathlons, and his kids (now 20 and 17) are doing fine, too.

“I felt incredibly well cared for,” he says of his time at HMH. “Dr. Koerner and the team were wonderful; they made me feel confident that I would be just fine.”

Next Steps & Resources

• Meet our sources: Hooman Azmi, M.D., John Koerner, M.D.
• Make an appointment online with an orthopedics provider near you, or call 800-822-8905.
• Learn more about our orthopedic services.