Dancing with the Stars pro sticks her neck out

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If “Dancing With the Stars” pro hoofer Karina Smirnoff and celeb dance partner Mario, win this season’s competition, it will be thanks to the dancer’s true grit and modern medical technology. Smirnoff, “Dance” fans will remember, propelled actor Mario López to a second place finish in season 3, then languished with Billy Ray “Feet of Clay” Cyrus and Floyd “Not So Money” Mayweather Jr. in seasons 4 and 5.

This season, paired with fleet-footed Mario, a 21-year-old R&B singer with the speed and coordination of a cheetah, she appeared to have hit pay dirt, when disaster struck. The five-time U.S. champion and all-around pixie from the Ukraine injured her neck just three weeks before the start of this season’s filming.

She underwent neck surgery 17 days before the first show and was back to work just three days after surgery, with a collar and a band-aid on her neck.

Dr. Robert S. Bray Jr., the neurological spine surgeon who performed the delicate microsurgery on her neck, detailed her progress by phone. (He was on his way to a “Dancing” taping to view Smirnoff perform a demanding, lightning-fast dance known as the Quick Step.)

“Karina had been having a little pain and then had an acute rupture,” says Bray. He believes she had a weak spot in the disc originally, “and then one day, it just went.” Bray is the CEO and founding director of D.I.S.C. Spine and Sports Center in Marina del Rey.

Smirnoff underwent what is known as a posterior cervical microdiscectomy C5-C6, performed with help from a $250,000 Zeiss microscope, to remove three fragments from her neck that were compressing a nerve in her arm. She had consulted with other physicians who had recommended other more invasive procedures, such as a fusion, which would have required weeks, if not months, of recovery time.

“She has more guts and heart than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says Bray. “I’ve taken care of every kind of athlete, hockey, soccer, volleyball, weight lifters, and I think she has the most determination. She just said, ‘I’m going to do this.’”

--Janet Cromley

Photo: Kelsey McNeal / ABC