Picture a perfect Wisconsin summer evening, and that was July 27, 2025. For Kimberly Van Sistine and her family, it was all the more special. Kimberly’s husband, Rich, celebrates his birthday that day. Kimberly’s birthday follows on July 28.
To celebrate their joint birthdays, the Van Sistines rent a cabin near Waupaca each year. The whole family joins for a time of togetherness and fun. It’s an occasion they anticipate all year long.
The evening of July 27, Kimberly decided to indulge in one last sunset water-ski around the lake before retiring to the shore for cake and wine around the firepit. An avid and experienced water-skier, Kimberly is a slalom master — a style that uses just one ski.
“We got out there and I’m looking at the water,” Kimberly recalls. “I eye it up and I’m looking off to the left thinking, ‘OK, that’s the glass. That’s where I’m going to cut really hard.’ And I’m just skiing and singing and having so much fun, and then I just slipped.”
Fun to Fraught
Immediately following the fall, Kimberly’s mind struggled to catch up with what had happened. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, her family stopped the boat and rushed to her aid.
“They jumped in the water and pulled me up,” Kimberly says. “Everybody was trying to get the ski off, and finally I just grabbed it and yanked as hard as I could.”
When Kimberly removed the ski, her foot drooped, fell to the side and looked like it was barely attached. That’s when she began to absorb the seriousness of her injury.
Kimberly’s family raced to get her emergency care. As they assessed their options, they decided she needed to go to ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah. But a new problem emerged: The 911 calls kept dropping due to spotty cell service. Finally, Kimberly’s daughter thought to hit the SOS button in the car. An ambulance met the family on U.S. Highway 10.
Once in the ambulance, the crew realized Kimberly was dehydrated from spending all day in the sun. They started an IV while Kimberly’s husband held up her leg.
“It was the most intense pain,” says Kimberly, a Neenah resident whose family own Van Sistine Homes LLC. “It was so awful.”
Assessing the Injury
Once Kimberly arrived in Neenah, teams worked to stabilize her, manage her pain and begin doing tests. Imaging showed extensive damage to Kimberly’s ankle.
“It was dislocated, it was broken, and the tendons and ligaments were shredded,” she says. “It was just fragments because the bones were shattered.”
As Kimberly struggled with severe physical pain, mental anguish also set in. As someone who loves to be active, she began to worry about all she might lose: water-skiing, ballet with her daughters, travel and even the simple ability to walk and work at home and in her second family-owned business, Urban Market in downtown Neenah.
“The hardest part for me was I knew I couldn’t ski the next day, on my birthday,” says Kimberly, whose family includes four daughters ranging in age from 15 to 24, along with a son-in-law and her second-oldest daughter’s boyfriend. “I was so sad. Our whole family was together, and I love it when it’s the eight of us.”
Kimberly credits the emergency department team in Neenah for helping her through her initial difficult moments.
“They were just very calming and accommodating,” she says. “Everybody there was so friendly.”
Soon, more reassurance arrived. Dr. Michal Kozanek, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle with ThedaCare Orthopedic Care, was on call that evening.
“He was so kind and so calm,” Kimberly says. “It was exactly what I needed in a doctor.”
Plan of Care
“It was a serious accident. It was high energy,” Dr. Kozanek says of Kimberly’s injury. “She was going quite fast … and she had the type of ski that didn’t release. It spun out her entire leg, which broke the ankle toward the ligaments, toward the tendons.”
Initial X-rays showed a dislocation and fractures. Advanced imaging later showed a fracture to the talus, which is the bone connecting the ankle to the foot. Kimberly also had damage to the ligaments and tendons around her ankle joint, including a torn peroneal tendon.
Before having surgery, Kimberly would need to spend some time elevating and immobilizing her ankle to bring down swelling. Her procedure was scheduled for two days later: July 29.
As Kimberly faced what lay ahead, she says Dr. Kozanek provided constant reassurance.
“The first thing I asked Dr. Kozanek was, ‘Can I ski again?’ And he did say yes,” she says. “I was very excited. I was very hopeful. But then I started asking about ballet and I knew there was going to be a little pause.”
Nonetheless, Kimberly prepared for a long road ahead that she hoped would eventually lead to a return to the activities she loved.
Rehabilitation and Recovery
For Kimberly, recovery was a humbling and often-painful experience that was anything but linear. Everyday tasks like getting ready for the day and tidying up around the house felt insurmountable at first. Looking back, she says she wished she’d understood the first two weeks would be the hardest.
“There were a couple of times I just laid on the floor and cried because I thought, ‘This is not who I am,’ but I knew I just had to keep staying positive,” she says. “I feel like that was what really helped get me through.”
Support from her loved ones, church family and community buoyed her along the way. Following a post in Urban Market’s social media channels, she received an overwhelming outpouring of care and support.
“I created this shrine on my fireplace of the flowers and the cards and the notes, and I just read through that every day,” she says.
As days turned to weeks and then months, Kimberly began to see improvement. Her determination and devotion to physical therapy helped her make gains.
“Every time my foot would hurt really bad, my husband would be like, ‘Are you OK?’ And I’d be like, ‘Yup, I’m healing!’” she says.
Dr. Kozanek affirms that Kimberly’s commitment to physical therapy and positivity aided in her recovery.
“The positive attitude is half the battle,” he says. “That’s been shown in medical literature as well.”
Remarkable Return
Within months, Kimberly had made astounding progress. Each step of the way, Dr. Kozanek has been there to encourage, advise and evaluate her recovery.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Kimberly achieved her long-awaited goal of returning to water-skiing: this time with a ski fitted with a hard-shell boot that allows for quick release in the event of a fall. It was a full-circle moment.
“It was very emotional and felt freeing,” Kimberly says. “It felt like trauma was released from my body, like the hidden fear was gone. It made me realize it’s important to face fears and not bury them.”
As Kimberly reflects on all that’s transpired within the past year, she does so with new-found perspective.
“I’m so thankful that before this happened, I did a duet with my daughter in pointe shoes,” she says. “I don’t look this and get mad that it happened to me. I look at it and think, ‘Wow, I’m so thankful for everything I’ve already done.’ I feel like if you have regrets and you’re angry, you’re not really going to get better. Your thoughts are so huge in the healing process.”
When injury strikes, expert care matters.
Learn more about ThedaCare Orthopedic Care.
