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<p>By the time Charlie Karcutskie neared the end of his education at Wyoming Area High School, he aspired to be a doctor.</p><p>Before that, he longed to have a career as an athlete.</p><p>The 30-year-old West Wyoming native&#8217;s recent trip to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, served, in some ways, to fulfill two dreams at once.</p><p>A graduate of The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton and a resident general surgeon and post doctoral fellow at University of Miami&#8217;s Jackson Memorial Hospital, Karcutskie was invited by his boss to be a medical volunteer during two weeks of the Olympic Games.</p><p>Antonio Marttos, a native of Brazil and Karcutskie&#8217;s attending surgeon, had a previous tie to <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/top-stories/576137/kelsey-kolojejchick-and-kat-sharkey-suffer-olympic-eliminatin-with-usa-womens-field-hockey-team" target="_blank">the Olympics</a> and was called to be one of two head physicians during the games in his home country.</p><p>&#8220;I was excited because I had always wanted to go to the Olympics,&#8221; Karcutskie said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the ultimate sporting event to watch.&#8221;</p><p>Having played sports from track to football to wrestling, Karcutskie had the opportunity to fill a role as &#8220;field of play doctor&#8221; from Aug. 3-19.</p><p>&#8220;We were the ones taking care of the athletes if anything happened during competition,&#8221; Karcutskie said. &#8220;We were where all the action happens. It&#8217;s like a front row seat to the best sporting event.&#8221;</p><p>During track and gymnastics competitions, Karcutskie was just feet away from world class athletes. He watched the American women&#8217;s gymnastics squad <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/sports/573954/usa-womens-gymnastics-team-wins-gold-at-rio-olympics" target="_blank">take team gold</a> and individuals Simone Biles and Aly Raisman win all around gold and silver, respectively.</p><p>He also witnessed the American women sweep the 100 meter hurdles track event, a first in Olympic history.</p><p>&#8220;It was awesome to see three Americans on the medal stand,&#8221; Karcutskie said.</p><p>In some cases, he was simply in awe of the athletes.</p><p>&#8220;Usain Bolt was an arm&#8217;s length away,&#8221; Karcutskie said of the current fastest man in the world. &#8220;Ashton Eaton, who&#8217;s the decathlon gold medalist &#8230; the world&#8217;s greatest athlete walks right past you.&#8221;</p><p>Karcutskie was called into action when British gymnast Elissa Downie injured her neck and when Brazilian gymnast Jade Barbosa injured her ankle, among other instances that demanded his expertise.</p><p>While his regular duties as a surgeon often deal with complication more life-threatening than a turned ankle, he said there is stress involved with making the call on whether an athlete continues to compete.</p><p>&#8220;You know they waited for this moment,&#8221; Karcutskie said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re making that call, it&#8217;s disappointing because you&#8217;re saying, &#8216;You really shouldn&#8217;t continue like this&#8217; and you&#8217;re crushing their dreams essentially.&#8221;</p><p>Appreciation for their hard work aside, Karcutskie said it was his duty to make suggestions based on the well-being of the athletes.</p><p>Beyond the Games, Karcutskie had a mixed reaction to visiting Rio based on the juxtaposition of beautiful landscape and abject poverty.</p><p>&#8220;You have beaches and these crazy mountains right next to the beach,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The scenery is something I feel you can&#8217;t get in a lot of other places. Contrasting that &#8230; you can see a lot of people living in poor situations.&#8221;</p><p>Karcutskie said exposure to the Zika virus seemed low, at least at the Olympic venues as he didn&#8217;t see any mosquitoes, but danger in the city was evident as several of his co-workers were mugged.</p><p>&#8220;It was an awesome experience,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My thinking was, &#8216;I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;m ever going to get the opportunity to do something like this or see anything like this,&#8217; so I jumped on it. Maybe I&#8217;ll get the opportunity again, but if I do, I&#8217;ll consider myself lucky.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dr. Charlie Karcutskie, left, examines and treats Brazilian gymnast, Jade Barbosa&#8217;s injured ankle. Karcutskie volunteered as a &#8216;field of play doctor&#8217; from Aug. 3-19 at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_OlympicDoctor1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dr. Charlie Karcutskie, left, examines and treats Brazilian gymnast, Jade Barbosa&#8217;s injured ankle. Karcutskie volunteered as a &#8216;field of play doctor&#8217; from Aug. 3-19 at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_OlympicDoctor2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">West Wyoming native Dr. Charlie Karcutskie, right, helps British gymnast, Elissa Downie, off the mat after a neck injury during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A resident general surgeon and post doctoral fellow at the University of Miami&#8217;s Jackson Memorial Hospital, Karcutskie said he had &#8216;a front row seat to the best sporting event. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_OlympicDoctor2.jpg</photo1><caption1>West Wyoming native Dr. Charlie Karcutskie, right, helps British gymnast, Elissa Downie, off the mat after a neck injury during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A resident general surgeon and post doctoral fellow at the University of Miami&#8217;s Jackson Memorial Hospital, Karcutskie said he had &#8216;a front row seat to the best sporting event. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Charlie Karcutskie treats world class athletes in Rio</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

West Wyoming native Charlie Karcutskie visits Rio Olympics as doctor