Sylvester “Sy” Burris was knocked down ” but not out.
His leg was smashed by a steer
27 years ago.
“He (the steer) had been sick -- was docile and tame,” Burris said. “But went berserk when I was ready to sort him out and put him back in the regular pen.”
Since then, the Arlington man has been through countless bouts of infection and 92 surgeries.
However it didn’t crush the spirit of this lifelong cowboy.
Burris was born in Anselmo.
“The ranch was our life,” Burris said.
At age 9, he moved with his parents to a country home in Arizona.
His first profession was as a city policeman in Arizona for
3 1/2 years. There, he married his wife of 46 years, Joann. They raised four children.
“He always said he would move back to Nebraska,” Joann said.
“Ranch life was in my blood -- cattle was my life,” Sy added.
“We moved to Shelton not knowing a soul -- with a baby and a German shepherd,” Joann said.
Eventually, the couple moved to Arlington where he worked with cattle for 33 years.
The day of the accident in 1981, just before Christmas, changed their lives forever.
Initially, a physician told him it was just a bad bruise. At Christmas, the leg was three times the normal size and blistered.
By January, Sy had no control over the leg.
Joann searched for an orthopedic surgeon in the phone book.
Sy later learned he had acquired a gram-negative staphylococcus animal infection from riding horses while his leg was injured.
Only four people are known to have contracted this type of infection nationwide, he added.
Amputations on the left leg began in 1987. Seven surgical revisions followed.
But that didn’t end the infections.
In the late 1980s, he spent most of two years at Bethany, a wound center in Kansas City, Mo.
And Sy had trouble using crutches.
That led to shoulder problems and other surgeries.
After he left the hospital, Joann continued his care at home.
“We had our own little ‘hospital’ here,” Joann said. “I did IVs. I had to gown up. It had to be sterile.”
A year of packing was required for one incision; it didn’t heal for four years.
Eventually, Joann left her job at Fremont Area Medical Center and worked part time as a housekeeper in private homes.
Sy returned to work between surgeries and hospital stays.
“When he feels good, there is no keeping him down,” Joann said.
“I even cultivated,” Sy said.
“He would climb on a tractor -- with one leg. He had a system,” Joann added.
Sy retired a few years ago.
“He’s more mellow, now,” Joann said.
He continues to receive antibiotics regularly.
This year, he spent New Year’s Day in the hospital for treatment of one of three episodes of pneumonia.
“He was in intensive care in May,” Joann said, adding, “With all his problems, he always comes out smiling.”
He enjoys playing cards and spending time with his 15-year-old Schipperke, Amigo.
Amigo might just be Sy’s best friend.
“When Sy’s in the hospital, Amigo won’t come out of his cage for three days,” Joann said.
These days Sy does the grocery shopping at Hy-Vee Food Store in Fremont.
“I cheer up the employees -- I know them all,” Sy said.
“He’s always got a smile on his face,” said Chad Sharp of Arlington, store operations manager at Hy-Vee. “He’s a nice guy -- concerned about others and what goes on in our lives.”
Sy’s smile seems infectious.
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