By Hilary Brown, Ben Branscum, and Hayden Gooding
Vince and Kaylee Gouge are University of Kentucky blue, through and through.
Both are central Kentucky natives 鈥 Vince is from Frankfort, Kaylee from Versailles 鈥 and both knew early on they were meant to be UK Wildcats. And that they were meant to be together.
鈥極n, On, U of K!鈥
Vince and Kaylee met as undergraduate students in 2013 in a public health class. Kaylee remembers the day so vividly, she can even recall the seating arrangement in the classroom. As they were both pursuing careers in medicine, they found themselves in the same classes again and again.
One day, while working together on a group project for a class, Vince and Kaylee discovered a mutual love of tennis as well as a myriad of other shared interests. From there, a friendship formed before blossoming into love. They began dating in their sophomore year, got engaged on the first day of senior year, and married a month after graduation.
Next came medical school, then residency 鈥 both at the University of Kentucky. Vince matched into the pediatrics program at (KCH), and Kaylee matched into internal medicine and pediatrics.
Even with long hours and busy schedules, Vince and Kaylee find time to see each other. And because of their overlapping specialties, sometimes they find themselves working side-by-side.
鈥淪ometimes we show up to a resuscitation together, where we鈥檙e on different teams to go to support the same baby,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淥r if we have opposite schedules with one of us being on nights, we have what we refer to as a 鈥榟ospital date鈥 鈥 the other comes in a little early and brings dinner, and we spend a little time together.鈥
These hospital dates aren鈥檛 just a momentary respite from a busy shift in a career that can be physically and emotionally demanding, but cherished traditions, a firm bedrock on which a relationship of mutual support and understanding is built.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to get away from work when we come home, because we talk about our day,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 so much easier to go through it together when one of us is extremely busy and the other person is completely understanding because they鈥檙e going through the same thing. There are times when we just sit next to each other and do our work. It鈥檚 hard to imagine going through this training without someone who understands what it鈥檚 like.鈥
When not at work, the Gouges love spending time outdoors, working through their bucket list to see all 63 national parks. Vince is an avid runner; during the COVID-19 pandemic, he started running at least a mile a day, eventually building a streak of more than 1,000 consecutive days of running. But that streak ended on Oct. 28, 2023.
鈥楬e was unrecognizable鈥
It was a perfect fall day in Kentucky. Vince and Kaylee met up with their fellow residents at a party in an orchard in Versailles before heading to Kaylee鈥檚 parents鈥 house to watch the UK football game. At 10:30 p.m., they decided to call it a night and head back to Lexington. That鈥檚 the last thing Vince remembers.
Kaylee, however, remembers everything. They were on a country road in Woodford County, one that she had traveled thousands of times before. She remembers the pickup truck approaching them head-on in their lane. She remembers screaming, grabbing Vince as their car spun endlessly.
鈥淲hen we finally stopped, I remember thinking, 鈥楶lease, let us be okay,鈥欌 Kaylee said. 鈥淚 remember having glass in my mouth and spitting that out. I looked at Vince, and he looked dead. He was unrecognizable.鈥
Kaylee screamed and shook Vince until he woke up. Relief that he was alive was quickly tempered by his condition.
鈥淰ince had blood all over his face; the middle of his face had been smashed by the top of the car caving in on him,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淭here was blood pooling in the cupholder next to him. The area where Vince鈥檚 leg was supposed to be was impossibly small.鈥
Nearby residents saw the crash and called for help. Kaylee鈥檚 father arrived a few minutes later, sitting with Vince in the car while first responders cut the twisted metal to free him. As they were loaded in separate ambulances, Kaylee had the mental wherewithal to tell the EMTs to take him to .
Surrounded by friends
Kaylee was struck by how surreal it all was, to come in through the same set of double doors she enters every day for work, but this time as a patient. Kaylee was in a trauma bay next to Vince, hearing him cry out in pain and praying that he wouldn鈥檛 remember any of it.
Soon, familiar faces appeared. Their care teams comprised former fellow med students, now residents and attendings, and others they had gotten to know during their rotations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gut-wrenching to see one of your own colleagues so severely injured, and knowing the kind of road it takes to recover from such injuries,鈥 said Patrick Grace, MD, medical director of Chandler Hospital Emergency Department. 鈥淔or those of us who work in emergency and trauma care, one of our greatest fears is seeing a loved one injured at work. When we are put in this position, we feel an even greater sense of responsibility to do the best work we can. You really see people going above and beyond and see providers go from practicing their vocation to truly answering their calling with the skills they have.鈥
Other friends and colleagues, those who didn鈥檛 work in the emergency department, came to check on Kaylee and Vince.
鈥淭here were so many people that came in that were caring for me that knew me,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淎nd just having those familiar faces who really understood the lives we led prior that point and understood what it meant to us and how this was going to change our lives was so comforting.鈥
Kaylee鈥檚 injuries included a broken rib, a small collapsed lung and significant bruising over her torso from the seatbelt.
The comfort from familiar UK faces was sorely needed, as Vince鈥檚 condition was critical. Along with his leg injury, Vince had an exposed skull upon arrival, a moderate traumatic brain injury and other internal bleeding.
鈥淚 had an open femur fracture; my upper left leg was sticking out of my skin as well as my tibia,鈥 said Vince, whose memory picked up again a few days after the wreck. 鈥淪omehow, my fibula did not break. I had a frontal skull fracture over my left forehead and 18 fractures between my nose, my upper jaw and my eye sockets or my orbits. The oral surgeons told me that my right sinus and nasal area were obliterated.鈥
Vince underwent five surgeries throughout his recovery: One surgery for his face and head 鈥 in which metal brackets were placed to stabilize the fractures 鈥 and four surgeries for his leg which included placing titanium rods in his femur and tibia.
Because of the severity of the impact, surgeons discovered Vince was missing three centimeters of bone from the middle of his tibia. Parts of the muscle and skin were either too damaged or missing entirely; the surgical team had to take a part of Vince鈥檚 calf muscle and attach it to the front. They then took a flap of skin from Vince鈥檚 right leg to graft on to the left.
Vince still carries all the metal implants and scars with him today. Though some of his memories are hazy, he remembers the relief he felt when he realized the people caring for him were his friends, neighbors and colleagues.
鈥淚t was a pretty powerful thing to know the people taking care of me,鈥 Vince said, recalling that the anesthesiologist from his first surgery happened to be a close friend.
鈥淚t was such a blessing to us, being able to reach out to colleagues and ask them basic questions and knowing familiar faces were the ones waking up Vince in the middle of the night to do vascular checks on his leg,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淚 think one of the cool parts of this story is how these pieces of our training built this community for us.鈥
鈥極ur place of work becomes like a family鈥
Vince faced a long, grueling recovery. After 13 days he was discharged from UK. Vince then spent seven days at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital for physical and occupational therapy. Before he came home, his and Kaylee鈥檚 family made modifications to their home, adding handrails so that Vince 鈥 determined to resume his daily activities 鈥 could more easily navigate the stairs.
The day Vince came home would have been the three-year anniversary of his daily one-mile runs.
鈥淚t was a bittersweet day,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was nice to go home, but I knew that I wouldn鈥檛 be going in the same state I left a few weeks prior.鈥
Soon there were signs of complications. During a post-recovery trip to Colorado, Vince had difficulty and extreme pain when walking short distances. Tests revealed an infection in his tibia, called osteomyelitis. Due to the nature of the car wreck, and the dirt and debris that made its way into Vince鈥檚 open wound, the risk of infection was always there.
鈥淚nfection in the bone primarily means that bone doesn't heal. It means the patient is in chronic pain until the infection has been relinquished. This is why every step was painful for him,鈥 said UK HealthCare orthopedic surgeon
Matuszewski became an important part of Vince鈥檚 care team when it came to combating the complication.
Vince had an infection in his bone, missing bone, and an unhealed fracture. This meant the infection would need to be treated with antibiotics, and the titanium rod in his leg needed to be replaced.
Although this is not necessarily an uncommon procedure, the manner in which Matuszewski treated this case was state-of-the-art. Traditional treatment would have required removal of the rod, a period without any metal, placement of an antibiotic spacer to fill the hole, and then later return to the operating room for bone grafting, similar to the procedure Vince had already experienced.
Matuszewski used a new, more advanced method.
鈥淲hat was different about his treatment was that we performed all of this in a single surgery. This is cutting edge,鈥 Matuszewski said. 鈥淗is rod was removed, tibia cleaned, and the rod was replaced with an antibiotic-coated rod that I make by hand. The goal of this would be to stabilize the fracture and treat the infection. The second aspect of this was that I placed a local synthetic antibiotic carrier/bone graft into the defect site. The synthetic bone graft both fights infection locally and acts as a scaffold for bone to grow into to fill the hole.鈥
Performing this type of procedure allowed Vince to start placing weight on his leg and walk on day one to begin his recovery. Other methods would have had a different recovery process and would have required additional surgical procedures.
鈥淚 try to offer the same care to everyone and tailor it to their needs,鈥 said Matuszewski. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I thought this would be a good fit for Vince, given his need to return to medical practice 鈥 a crucial period in his life.鈥
Both Vince and Kaylee took extended leaves from work, but they were never made to feel like a burden to their colleagues or supervisors, all of whom went above and beyond to share their workload.
In April 2024, six months after the wreck, Vince returned to work, first starting in the general pediatrics clinic before returning to the neonatal intensive care unit at KCH. At the time of the wreck, he was a few months away from being halfway through his three-year pediatrics residency.
鈥淭he residency program and the administration of Kentucky Children鈥檚 Hospital as a whole, moved my schedule around as much as possible for me to be able to still get paid and still fulfill the requirements of my residency so that ultimately I was able to graduate on time,鈥 said Vince. 鈥淟ooking back now at the degree of my injuries and everything, it really is a testament to their willingness to work with me and be such a great place to work.鈥
Kaylee gained a new appreciation of their workplace from her new perspective as a patient and caregiver.
鈥淚 think, as the spouse, I maybe benefited from that even more than he did,鈥 she said. 鈥淏eing your caregiver and having people just rally around us to support us. That was all incredibly comforting.鈥
And now, Vince has started a new project: Whenever he runs into someone who was involved in his care, he makes it a point to share his gratitude.
"As I see people both in the hospital or out in the community, I take a picture with them and tell them, 鈥榃hat an honor it was for me to be taken care of by you,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淚 now have a folder on my phone called 鈥楶eople who took care of me.鈥欌
It鈥檚 a moment that is just as meaningful for the providers who are added to his folder.
鈥淚 was pretty emotional in that moment, seeing him as he was still recovering and how thoughtful he was to want to acknowledge all the people that were a part of his care team. I thought it spoke volumes about the kind of person Dr. Gouge is, and I鈥檓 so thankful every time I see him at work again,鈥 said Grace.
鈥橳il the battle is won
Vince continues to make progress at physical therapy. One day, his physical therapist put him on a treadmill and encouraged him to run as long as he wanted. When the treadmill hit three-quarters of a mile, Vince felt everything change.
鈥淚 looked at her and said, 鈥業 think I鈥檓 going to run a mile,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淪o, I ran. And in that moment, I鈥檓 realizing all the work I had done to that point and reflecting back on how important that distance was to me. I cried there on that treadmill and took just a few moments to myself to think about the journey I had been on.鈥
Vince graduated from his residency in June 2025, right on schedule. He now serves as the chief resident for the pediatrics program, but he and Kaylee still find time for their hospital dates.
鈥淲atching Vince have such an excellent recovery was amazing to see,鈥 said associate program director, UK HealthCare Emergency Medicine. 鈥淭o be honest, when he arrived, I was unsure he would survive, much less ever practice medicine ever again. It鈥檚 amazing what our teams of care providers can accomplish. It is truly a miracle.鈥
Vince is not worried about his daily running streak anymore; his plans and priorities have changed. He and Kaylee are planning an epic trip to New Zealand to celebrate the end of their residencies.
Vince is applying to neonatal-perinatal medicine to work exclusively in the NICU, and Kaylee is applying to hospice and palliative care for adults and kids. Regardless of where they train, they hope to be at UK for their careers.
Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.
鈥淚t just makes UK a different kind of special to us now,鈥 said Kaylee. 鈥淭hat's a big draw for us to stay here forever. We love it so much because we know that people care about us as much as we care about them.鈥
