Shoulder Replacement Lets Sculptor Get Back to His Studio

What do a pile of rocks, a sculptor’s bad shoulder and a Scranton-area orthopedic surgeon have in common?

The answer is an unusual sculpture – a towering creation of stone and metal that artist David Safhay had been building for two years – that he was forced to abandon because of his arthritis-ridden shoulder and his constant pain.

But now the Lakeville artist is back in his studio and the piece is nearing completion. It’s a remarkable comeback for Safhay (and his sculpture), thanks to his complex shoulder surgery at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute.

“I had been in agony,” says Safhay. “I could not continue on my sculpture. But my orthopedic surgeon resurrected me, and because of that I was able to resurrect my sculpture. So I renamed my sculpture ‘Resurrection.’”

As described by the artist, ‘Resurrection’ is a large, mixed-media creation that thrusts up out of a 300-pound granite pedestal. It is made primarily of rocks that Safhay collected in a cliff near Scranton, but it also has metal components like wires, levers, and mechanical and hydraulic parts that link the rocks together.

But here’s where the whole thing takes a prehistoric turn: The rocks contain Lepidodendrons – 300-million-year-old textured fossils from an extinct species of prehistoric tree. It’s a feature that truly makes this sculpture one-of-a-kind, he says.

The 69-year-old artist was able to get back on his ladder and wield his sculpting tools again because of Lisa O’Brien, DO, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon at Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute’s Dickson City and Pittston locations. It was Dr. O’Brien who reconstructed Safhay’s shoulder.

“David had been dealing with constant pain and limited function for some time,” Dr. O’Brien says. “His shoulder anatomy was deformed because of severe arthritis.”

It turns out that his surgery was as complex as his sculpture. Dr. O’Brien had to reverse the ball and socket of Safhay’s left shoulder, and she used a pre-surgery CT scan and special software to create a template of the new parts she would need for the procedure, even before he arrived on the operating table.

The surgery “helped improve the normal alignment of the socket for better function of the arm and more stability,” she says.

Safhay’s recovery period was about three months. It included physical therapy directed by Dr. O’Brien.

“My partners and I always strive to provide the highest quality of care in our northeast Pennsylvania region of Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute,” Dr. O’Brien says. “We have an awesome team of surgeons, physician assistants and other support staff who work together to make sure that patients are seen and appropriately cared for in a timely manner.”

On a recent morning, Safhay was hard at work adding color to the textured pattern of the fossils, and using the arm that didn’t work before. “I’m pain-free,” he says. “It feels like an absolutely new arm.

“These rocks were once alive,” says Safhay of the fossil-encrusted stones. “It’s my mission, through this sculpture, to ‘bring them back to life’ again,” just like Dr. O’Brien brought my arm back to life.”

Safhay’s sculpture will be unveiled to the public at 1 p.m. May 18 when his show, entitled "From The Ashes -- Recent works of David Safhay” opens at Chelsea on the Delaware, 90 Main St., Narrowsburg, N.Y.

You can see more of his work at:

www.davidsafhay.com