Triathlete, Charles Walters, felt like he was at the pinnacle of performance when a tragic accident put him on the sidelines. A drunk driver crashed head-on ridesharing car he was in. "It was just a really shocking, traumatic event," Charles told DailyMail.tv, as you can see in this video. Charles sought out surgeons to fix chronic back pain but was told a spine fusion was his option and it could leave him paralyzed. Thankfully, he found Top US Spine Surgeon, Dr. Hooman Melamed, who offered Charles an alternative — biportal endoscopic spine surgery. Also known as BESS, Dr. Melamed has pioneered this procedure in the U.S. for more than three years and has perfected the technique. Check out the video to learn more about the BESS procedure as well as how far Charles has come toward competing again.

Transcript:

Now to a pro athlete's career-saving spine surgery. Charlie Walters was a successful triathlete when the Uber car that he was riding in was hit head-on by a drunk driver. That accident seriously injured his spine, causing him excruciating pain and taking him out of competition. But thanks to a new surgical procedure, Charlie is getting back his former life and is determined to resume competing later this year. Charlie Walters states, I smacked right into the back of the seat and had injuries in my leg, my knee, my back, and my wrist. It was just a really shocking, traumatic event. The narrator adds, That shocking, traumatic event happened back in November of 2020. Charlie continues, I felt like I was kind of at the peak of my performance, and then all of a sudden I couldn't anymore. It's really, really hard. I've seen it happen to other people because I coach people too, but you never think it's going to happen to you. The narrator says, Charlie sought out surgeons to try and stop the pain and fix the damage he'd suffered. Charlie explains, My back especially was bothering me so much that I just couldn't do everyday activities. The narrator notes, But time and time again, Charlie was told a spinal fusion was the only answer and that answer could mean limited mobility and the likely end to his athletic career. Charlie expresses, I went through waves of depression and not knowing what the outcome was going to be. Not having a clear end path. Yeah, it was hard. The narrator continues, Then Charlie found board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Hooman Melamed, who offered an alternative. The technical term is called five-port endoscopic surgery. It's not a mainstream procedure. Dr. Hooman Melamed explains, But Charlie had another issue. He had slipped vertebrae. This procedure has never been done in the United States on a patient who has a slipped vertebrae like that. I said, but I'm willing to try it because you're an athlete, we have nothing to lose if it doesn't work great, we can always end up doing the fusion. The narrator describes the procedure, so he went for the biportal endoscopic surgery, which starts with two tiny incisions the size of the end of a pen. One allows the camera to be inserted so the doctor can see exactly where he's working. The other is for the surgical tool used to perform the operation. Dr. Melamed has been doing this surgery for three years now. The idea is to decompress the pain-causing nerve without disrupting any of the anatomy around it. Dr. Melamed details the process, You start identifying where the nerve is, cheerfully, and then start removing all of the bone spurs, excessive discs, everything that is compressing the nerve. You start cleaning around it, create enough space for the nerve without sacrificing the stability of the vertebrae and the disc itself. Preserving as much of normal anatomy to allow Charlie to resume everything as though he never had surgery. The narrator adds, Charlie's operation to Dr. Melamed's 90% success rate. Charlie provides an update on his recovery, I'm still on the road to recovery for sure, but I am able to do all of the different disciplines for the triathlon now: swim, bike, run. I'm hoping to do the Malibu race in September. I will hopefully be back to my level in a few more months. Dr. Melamed gives his outlook, As long as the vertebrae don't continue slipping forward, which most cases it doesn't happen, this thing should last for him for maybe forever, potentially. Charlie concludes, It's just a miraculous thing that he was able to do, and I'll be forever grateful. The narrator finishes by saying, For more on Dr. Melamed and orthopedic spine issues in general, as well as disorders, you can head over to the doctor's website at thespinepro.com.