Kelsey Wittels is a 31-year-old engineer from Lake Tahoe, California, who also travels around the world as a competitive big mountain skier. She was suddenly sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear after a bad landing jumping off a cliff at the beginning of the winter 2023 ski season. Kelsey was concerned about how her recovery would affect the trajectory of her competitive skiing career, as she knows many people within the ski community who weren’t able to fully return to competing following ACL reconstruction (ACLR). As she began to explore options that would allow her to return to a high-level of skiing, Kelsey was introduced to the BEAR^® Implant.

We spoke with Kelsey and Dr. Jonathan Hagen, her orthopedic surgeon at Tahoe Forest Health System and Tahoe Forest Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Lake Tahoe, California, about her decision to get the BEAR Implant, rehab and return to competitive skiing.

Q: How did you tear your ACL?

Kelsey: It was a heavy powder day, and we were skiing and jumping off a 15-foot cliff with a big wind lip allowing us to get a lot of air. When I landed, my skis rotated, and I both felt and heard the pop. I immediately knew my ACL was gone because I lost all strength in my legs. I later got an x-ray and MRI, which confirmed I tore my ACL.

Q: Were you concerned about whether you’d be able to get back to skiing?

Kelsey: An ACL tear is the bane of every skier’s career. I was in disbelief that it happened, and it was really scary to know that the course I was on was probably changed significantly. I did feel worried about where my career would go. I’ve had many friends who weren’t able to get back to their level of competitive skiing following ACL injuries.

Q: How did you learn about the BEAR Implant? What made you decide it was the right choice for you?

Kelsey: Due to its location, all the physicians and physical therapists at Tahoe Forest Health System are in tune with the mountain lifestyle and treated me with a lot of respect in terms of helping me get back to my ski career. Dr. Hagen presented me with different treatment options, including ACLR and the BEAR Implant. Once he explained the advantages of the BEAR Implant, the benefit of letting my body heal itself was the biggest motivating factor for me. I know my body and its ability to heal, so I went home and did my own research. Ultimately, having a smaller incision site, not having to take a graft and rehab another part of my body and giving my body the opportunity to regrow my own ACL helped me come to the decision to move forward with the BEAR Implant.

Q: Why was Kelsey a good candidate for the BEAR Implant?

Dr. Hagen: Kelsey’s type of ACL tear and issue quality was ideal, and she was a high-level athlete with a lot of strength in her leg. Because she requires a lot out of her knee to ski at a professional level, providing a surgical option like the BEAR Implant that could lead to less muscle loss after surgery was a great option for her.

The BEAR Implant allowed her own tissue to heal, which allowed the nerves in the ligament to remain. This is important because it gives the patient more proprioception in the knee (the ability to know where your knee is in space without looking at the knee). I think this is very important for patients that ski at Kelsey’s level. In addition, Kelsey is MIT-educated and an engineer, so she was able to sort through the ACL research and see the benefits of the BEAR Implant, allowing her to advocate for the technology.

Q: Can you tell us about the rehab experience?

Kelsey: Compared to what I know about rehab for ACLR, my recovery with the BEAR Implant was slow at the beginning. I had a great team of physical therapists, and since it was all of our first time with the BEAR Implant, we didn’t push my movements at the beginning – we just let my body direct me. As I continued to feel like I could take on more, by five or six months, I was back to a low level of high activity such as riding my mountain bike with no jumps. The biggest surprise for me during rehab was the mental aspect of recovery. Fear has never held me back from extreme sports, but after nine months of rehab, I had a new level of caution. All of the little progressions I had were successes and the process was push-and-pull since I really took my time to ensure my body and knee were ready.

Dr. Hagen: Kelsey had been pushing me along the whole ACL recovery trying to do more activities sooner than our rehabilitation protocol allows because she felt strong and ready to go back to activities. I think this is a testament to less insult to the knee after ACL surgery with the BEAR Implant and the fact that she lost less of her muscle.

Q: Can you tell us about your return to sport experience?

Kelsey: I returned to mountain skiing at the nine-month mark with some trusted friends. I was terrified before I set out, but once we started, it felt like riding a bike and my body knew how to ski again. When it came to doing tricks, I progressed slowly but quickly got to my goal of doing a backflip and 360 within a few months. Since returning to sport, I placed sixth overall in my first competition at 13-months post-surgery!

Q: How has the BEAR Implant technology impacted how you treat ACL tears?

Dr. Hagen: My hope in offering the ACL repair with the BEAR Implant is that patients like Kelsey can feel their knee is more natural than if they had an ACL reconstruction, given it’s their own tissue with retained nerve endings.

Q: What, in your opinion, is most notable about the BEAR Implant?

Dr. Hagen: I am most excited that the BEAR Implant technology allows surgeons to heal a patient’s own ACL instead of cutting out their ACL fibers and replacing it or reconstructing it with a tendon or other tissue. It also prevents the need to make a separate incision to harvest or cut out one of the patient’s other tendons to use as a graft or replacement for their ACL tissue. This makes the initial surgery less painful because there is less trauma to the knee.

Q: What are some of your short- and long-term goals with skiing?

Kelsey: My short-term goal is to do well in this upcoming competitive ski season. I’ll be filming for some projects and also competing within the Freeride World Tour qualifiers with the aim to make the finals. My long-term goal is to be able to enjoy skiing for the rest of my life. That’s why taking rehab seriously after getting the BEAR Implant was so important to me, because I know there is a certain level of risk with skiing, and I am most interested in the longevity of my knee.

Q: Has your decision to get the BEAR Implant changed your life or impacted your daily life in any way?

Kelsey: Getting the BEAR Implant made something as terrifying as an ACL tear much more palatable. It got me back to my level of skiing, and I feel really confident in my knee. In fact, my BEAR Implant knee is actually my stronger leg, and I often forget I even had surgery on it. In addition to my main sport of skiing, I also mountain bike and climb – this has allowed me to test my BEAR Implant knee successfully through many different applications of forces.

Learn more about the BEAR Implant and find a surgeon

The BEAR Implant is available in select cities across the U.S., with more cities coming soon. Learn more about the BEAR Implant or find a surgeon in your area. If you’re a BEAR Implant patient and would like to share your story, click here.

The BEAR Implant from Miach Orthopaedics was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2020. It is indicated for adults, adolescents and children with a complete or partial rupture of the ACL, as confirmed by MRI. Patients must have an ACL stump attached to the tibia to construct the repair. Children with open physes must have sufficient bone in the femoral and tibial epiphyses on either side of the intended tunnel locations to avoid disruption of the growth plates.

It is important to follow the BEAR Implant physical therapy program. Your surgeon can explain the program details.

Be sure to discuss your individual symptoms, diagnosis and treatment with your surgeon. The BEAR Implant has the same potential medical/surgical complications as other orthopedic surgical procedures, including ACL reconstruction. These include the risk of re-tear, infection, knee pain, meniscus injury and limited range of motion.

Visit www.miachortho.com for complete product information, including Instructions for Use. ML-1229

Rev A 12/2024