Quakertown ‘Extraordinary Athlete’ Perseveres

Overcomes Knee Injuries through Network’s Orthopedic Care

Noah Wood turned the disappointment of two knee surgeries during his junior year of high school into a senior year of triumph.

Noah, who graduated from Quakertown Community High School (QCHS) in June and is headed to Ithaca College in the fall, underwent a pair of a pair of knee arthroscopies as a junior that derailed his hopes of making the PIAA Wrestling Championships that season.

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His resolve, however, proved his determination as he returned to play football as a running back and linebacker, rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a senior, and then not only making the PIAA Wrestling Championships, but making it to the second day of the grueling tournament.

St. Luke’s sports medicine team, part of St. Luke’s Orthopedic Care, helped Noah excel through his football and wrestling career so much that Noah is part of the QCHS Medical Pathways program with SLUHN and is looking to get into the medical field, possibly in Orthopedics or Cardiology.

Despite wrist injuries, a shoulder injury, the knee surgeries and a concussion, Noah excelled both on the field and in the classroom, as well as in the community, making him one of St. Luke’s Extraordinary Athletes.

“My major thing is playing sports and has been a part of my life ever since I was a young kid,” says Noah, who has a 4.1 GPA on a weighted grade scale. “It’s what I pride myself on, so I owed it to my friends and teammates to come back and play better than before. I always pull energy from the people around me to help me get through the tough times.”

Noah also pulls strength from his friend, a special needs student at Quakertown that he’s been paired up with since sophomore year as part of the high school’s Best Buddies club.

“He would come over to my house; we’d hang out and play video games, go bowling or out for ice cream,” Noah says. “It always feels good to be a friend for someone, to be there to talk to and brighten up their day.”

Noah found plenty of that same support from the sports medicine professionals at St. Luke’s Orthopedic Care, a team that included Quakertown athletic trainer Jerry Dancho, primary care sports medicine physicians Dr. Nicholas Crognale and Dr. Celestine Nnaeto, and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gregory Carolan.

“Noah is great kid,” says Dancho, who had plenty of one-on-one time with Noah by giving initial on-field diagnoses while helping in post-injury and surgery recovery. “You think you have this tough-as-nails football player, and he’s great in school, National Honor Society, ridiculous GPA, Best Buddies, involved in everything. He works hard at everything he does, and he rehabbed hard to get back without letting it affect the other areas of his life.”

Dr. Carolan experienced that same kind of resolve from Noah.

“He didn’t want to think about what happened,” Dr. Carolan says. “He only wanted to think about what he could do to get back to a competitive level.”

There is no question about the determination or toughness Noah displayed during his injuries and recovery. His work ethic and relationships with the St. Luke’s Orthopedic Care team aided Noah to miss only minimal playing time. His care team was able to quickly diagnose and treat the wide array of injuries both on and off the field, helping Noah succeed and become one of the best local athletes in both football and wrestling.

Media Contact:

Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated and nationally recognized network providing services at seven hospitals and more than 270 outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing health education, St. Luke’s operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing and 23 graduate medical educational programs and is considered a major teaching hospital, the only one in the region. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first Medical School. Repeatedly, including 2017, St. Luke’s has earned Truven’s 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation as well as 50 Top Cardiovascular program in addition to other honors for clinical excellence. St. Luke’s is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of St. Luke’s information technology applications such as electronic medical records, telehealth, online scheduling and pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers in comparison to major teaching hospitals and other health systems.

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