William "Red" Stauffer Story

“I’ve built I don’t know how many cars and I currently own 15,” Red said. “I’ve been featured in Hot Rod magazine. I spent 25 years driving race cars and I hold a land speed record at Bonneville (Utah) at 244 miles per hour. And in 2024, I hit the fuel record there at 231 miles per hour.”

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That fearless determination and tireless work ethic kept him going, until chronic shoulder pain threatened it all.

“I’ve lived with shoulder pain for over ten years,” Red said. “I’m retired now, but I spent many years doing stucco work that is hard on the arms and shoulders. Racing cars two or three times a week requires being strapped in and you pull the harness down as hard as you can. I think my shoulders just wore out.”

Over the last decade, Red says he tried everything to ease the pain — from exercise and physical therapy to cortisone shots, stem cell therapy and platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) — but nothing worked long term.

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“I didn’t stop doing what I wanted to, I just did it in pain,” Red said. “But then one day I got stuck getting out of someone else’s race car. Two people had to pull me out and I knew that if I wanted to keep racing, I had to get my shoulders fixed.”

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Red turned to orthopedic surgeon G. Russell Huffman, MD, MPH (Orlando, FL), who advised shoulder replacement.

“Red is an active guy who tried and failed at all the conservative measures,” Dr. Huffman said. “He was having daily pain and difficulty sleeping. With a rotator cuff tear, a lot of wear and tear and arthritis, shoulder replacement was really his only good option.”

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Dr. Huffman started with Red’s left arm and planned his shoulder replacement using the Virtual Implant Positioning™ (VIP™) system software, which allows for precise selection and positioning of the shoulder implant.

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“Through the VIP planning process, we are able to really customize the surgery,” Dr. Huffman said. “It’s changed the implants that we use and has helped make us better surgeons. It has improved the field of shoulder arthroplasty.”

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Dr. Huffman used the Univers Revers™ total shoulder system to replace Red’s shoulder.

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Reverse shoulder arthroplasty is used in patients who are not candidates for anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty, which uses a metal ball prosthesis implanted on the top part of the arm, or humerus. A cup implant is fitted in the shoulder socket, or glenoid.

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In a reverse procedure, the ball and cup implants are switched, with the ball implant affixed to the shoulder socket and the cup implant to the upper arm bone. “It’s a very modern implant,” Dr. Huffman said. “The Univers Revers shoulder arthroplasty system is adaptable to all sizes of patients. It’s a modular system that we can customize for the best outcome for patients.”

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Red says the outcome of his surgery exceeded his expectations. He jumped into therapy immediately and within three months, he was back in the gym. Within six months, he was not only able to get back in a race car but was driving his motorcycle again.

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“I was surprised at how minimal the pain was; I’d rather go through shoulder surgery than have a root canal,” he said. “I never even took the pain medication they prescribed me.”

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Today, Red says he feels so good that he’s ready to have his other shoulder replaced, too.

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“I’m really pleased, I have full range of motion in my left arm again,” he said. “I wish I had had the surgery much sooner. It would have saved me ten years of agony in my life.”

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