A spill on the slopes, and a 21-year-old college student didn't realize he'd suffered a life-threatening injury

KENOSHA (WITI) -- Kenosha doctors are calling it an amazing recovery. It all started as just another day on the slopes -- but when a college student and avid snowboarder took a spill, he had no idea how badly he was hurt.

When Justin Henderson isn't in class, he's on the slopes.

The hills at Wilmot Mountain just north of the Illinois border are the perfect place for skiers and snowboarders to record their runs, but the camera wasn't rolling on Tuesday, January 29th.

"Well when a patient comes in by ambulance, they call ahead of time, and so they had called and said they had a patient who had fallen and was having some pain on their side," Thomas Kirages, a physician and medical director at Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha said.

21-year-old Henderson says this fall wasn't any worse than any other, but this time, he felt different.

"When I walked in the door his feet were as white as a sheet,"

When Henderson tried getting up, he'd start losing consciousness.

"Every time I stood up, I'd start black out, start to go black," Henderson said.

Henderson was losing blood. The Carthage College junior was rushed to Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha.

"You don't have a lot of time. When a spleen ruptures, it bleeds and it can bleed quickly -- so time is of the essence," Aurora Medical Center surgeon Markian Kuzycz said.

Minutes later, Henderson was in emergency surgery to remove his ruptured spleen. It wasn't until after that that he realized how serious his injury was.

"He lost about 1,500 cc's of blood, so if you could imagine about three fourths of a two liter coke bottle, is initially is what was suctioned out right away," Kuzycz said.

Henderson is still recovering, but he's back in class and healing exceptionally well. It would have been a much different story had he waited to go to the hospital.

"Just mind blowing to know I could feel perfectly fine but have internal bleeding and not know it. It's really scary," Henderson said.

Doctors at Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha say head injuries and broken bones are more common winter sports injuries. Doctors say it's always important to take any injury seriously because, like in this case, it could be life-threatening.