Patients in the News
Darius Rucker is a Star on the Stage, on the Golf Course, and in the Community
By Jim Brown, Executive Editor, SPRI News
“By the time I got to Dr. Steadman and the Steadman Clinic, my knee was a mess,” recalls Darius Rucker. “I had a history of bad knees, mostly caused by wear and tear, but this time it was worse. I couldn’t straighten my leg — couldn’t get it past 45 degrees.”
Darius Rucker is a Capitol Records Nashville award-winning country music star. Earlier in his career he skyrocketed to fame as the lead singer for the rock band, Hootie & and The Blowfish. Darius was given the 2010 Country Music Association New Country Artist of the Year Award (former called the Horizon Award), and his albums and singles have reached the top of all three national music charts. In 2008, his “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” became a number one single.
But his knee problems were slowing Darius down both on the stage and off. “My knee bothered me, but you try not to let something like that stop you,” he says. “At one point, I had a staph infection that kept me in the hospital for two weeks. A torn meniscus, several operations, three surgeries to clean out the infection, and all the scar tissue put me in a lot of pain.”
“When you have a chance to see . . . .”
“A friend of mine, Al Perkins (a Steadman-Philippon Research Institute Board Member), told me I needed to see Dr. Richard Steadman,” Darius continues. “I knew who he was. Anybody who follows sports knows who he is, but I didn’t know him personally. Al arranged an appointment and I went to Vail.”
“I guess I could have gone somewhere else, but when you have a chance to see Dr. Steadman, you’d be a fool not to do it,” says Darius. “Once I met him, I felt like everything was going to be okay. When he walked into the room, the thing that struck me instantly was how laid back and real he was. After we had talked for two minutes, I felt like he had been my doctor for 12 years. It was like he didn’t have another patient to see that day. I thought that was pretty cool.”
Dr. Steadman and his colleagues “fixed” Darius’s left knee, cleaning out loose objects, smoothing frayed tissue, and repairing areas damaged by scar tissue — using techniques either pioneered or refined by research conducted at the Institute and put into practice every day by the team of physicians at the Steadman Clinic.
Stronger Than Ever
Darius, his music, and his knees are stronger than ever. His schedule is packed with dates at some of the most famous music venues in the world. In July, he will perform for the Institute’s annual summer fundraiser at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado.
“I told Al I wanted to play a show for the Institute,” says Darius. “I’m busy, but not too busy to do something that might help the Clinic and the Research Institute.”
He is also back on the golf course. His knee feels fine, he plays five days a week, and he has a seven handicap, although he grew up in South Carolina wanting to be — believe it or not — a professional hockey player.
His charity event, “Monday After the Masters,” is in its 15th year. In April, a sold-out crowd of 6,000 fans watched Darius and his friends host scores of celebrity athletes and entertainers at The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort & Golf in South Carolina. The event has donated more than 4.5 million dollars to the Hootie & The Blowfish Foundation, which supports the educational needs of South Carolina and the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation.
“As a former patient,” adds Darius, “I try to keep up with sports medicine, and what they are doing at Steadman-Philippon is always on the cutting-edge of orthopaedic technology and surgery. I respect everyone associated with the Steadman Clinic and the Steadman-Philippon Research Institute, and I support what they do.”
