Five-Star Service
Thousands of patients, bodies worn down from sports injuries or from years of deterioration from day-to-day activities, turn to Eisenhower Desert Orthopedic Center to restore mobility and improve their quality of life. Most come from the Coachella Valley and surrounding communities seeking care that helps them return to everyday activities with less pain and greater independence.
Rarely, however, does a patient travel across the country for surgery - a procedure so transformative it reflects the spirit of service and excellence embodied by the hospital’s namesake, five-star Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Meeting of the Brothers
Patrick St. Pierre, MD, a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon who recently retired from the Orthopedic Center, is no stranger to military service. A 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, St. Pierre retired as colonel in 2004 after 24 years of service. During his military career, St. Pierre also graduated from U.S. Army Ranger School, one of the Army’s most advanced and rigorous training programs.
So, when Dr. St. Pierre and his wife, Linda, attended a Carrington Charitable Foundation event supporting wounded warriors, and sat at the same table as John Masson, an army ranger himself, it was no surprise the two brothers-in-arms found an immediate rapport.
Fast forward nearly 10 years, and the two were now planning far more than their usual round of golf. Masson was facing surgery on his only fully functioning limb - a procedure that needed to be performed with the highest level of expertise. Enter Benjamin Rubin, MD, also an orthopedic surgeon, and friend of both Dr. St. Pierre and Masson. Together, Dr. St. Pierre and Dr. Rubin set out to orchestrate a complex plan for Masson involving cross-country travel, surgery, recovery and rehabilitation.
No Ordinary Patient, No Ordinary Plan At age 54, Masson is a highly decorated veteran with deployments in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom (2006—07), Operation Enduring Freedom in Central America (2008) and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan (2010) 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
Among his honors are a Meritorious Service Medal, a Purple Heart, two Bronze Star Medals and three Army Commendation Medals (one with a Valor Device). Just shy of 17 years into his military career, Masson’s service was halted abruptly in August 2010, south of Kandahar, Afghanistan, when he stepped on an improvised explosive device, or IED.
When Dr. St. Pierre and Masson met, Masson was a triple amputee who had lost both legs and part of his left arm just below the elbow in the line of duty.
Despite those life-altering injuries, Masson’s drive to compete never waned. Years of elite training and competition placed increasing strain on his one functional arm and shoulder. He went on to compete in 13 Boston Marathons, with a personal best of 1:09, earning him second place in the men’s handcycle division in 2024; in the 2024 Detroit Free Press Marathon adaptive athletes division where he placed fourth;
in the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road Open in Texas where he ranked No. 5 in 2024; in the Carolinas Cycling Association Road Race Championships — Time Trial where he earned second place; and at the Pro Bike Fitter Paracycling 15K Time Trial in 2024 where he took first place, just to name a few.
“He only has one functional arm,” says Dr. St. Pierre. “Our veterans go through so much - multiple surgeries and fighting infections - but he was able to recover. After we met, he started to get into handcycling and then became a Paralympics competitor. His shoulder was getting so bad that he’d gone to some local doctors and they talked about doing replacements, but because we knew each other, he sent all of his imaging out to me to review. We elected to go ahead and have his surgery here because of my expertise in doing shoulder replacements, and in particular a reverse shoulder replacement.”
On August 13, 2025, Dr. St. Pierre performed the reverse shoulder replacement on Masson. Preparing for the surgery and recovery, let alone the travel from North Carolina, would be no small feat for Masson and his wife, Dustina. A private flight was arranged for the couple, and the St. Pierres opened their home to the Massons both before and after surgery. John took it all in stride.
“Shoulder replacements are a big deal,” explains Dr. St. Pierre. “It’’s a big operation for anybody, but most people can get up and walk around and use their other arm to take care of personal hygiene and getting dressed. He lost use of his only functional arm for three to four weeks to allow it to recover and heal. He is one of the most resilient people I have ever met.”
The Massons appreciate the first-class care they had at Eisenhower from start to finish, from checking in the evening before surgery to each and every staff member who interacted with the couple. Masson lauded the attention to detail, care of the staff and ease with which the surgery flowed. And the personal care from his friend, Dr. St. Pierre, who became his surgeon, was exceptional.
“It was amazing the amount of care that he showed,” says Masson. “We had another doctor, Dr. Ben Rubin, who was with us and he would make sure throughout the day that I had everything that I needed after surgery. I was icing. I was doing some stretches. I was doing whatever movements he wanted me to do, which was very little. And of course, when [St. Pierre] would get home from his shift, first thing, he would come to me and ask me how I felt.”
Back on the Bike
Following up via video for monthly reports, Dr. St. Pierre says Masson is progressing well in his recovery. Masson is starting to train again on his bike and wants to return to his pre-surgical, competitive form. He has his sights set on returning to Boston in 2027.
“I want to let everybody know how amazingly grateful my wife and I are for everybody that we spoke with, that we interacted with, and who had any part to play with my coming out there,” says Masson. “When we were there, I’’m not going to lie, I
was a little bit worried. Deep down, I did not want to [have the surgery], but I knew it had to be done. I was just scared because I knew I was going to be disabled more than I’’d ever been disabled before. But I also knew that
I had an amazing amount of people that were supporting me through it and that even if I didn’’t have any good extremities at all, that I could lean on them with all my weight.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everybody out there, especially Pat and Linda. We love them, we appreciate them, we appreciate the staff. I remember people’’s faces. I remember the face of practically everyone that I interacted with there.”
To learn more about Eisenhower Desert Orthopedic Center, visit EisenhowerHealth.org/DesertOrtho.
For an appointment, call 760.773.4545.
