Published: December 3, 2025
Estimated reading time: 19 minutes
There he was — standing — on the turf in the center of the gym.
Percy Reynolds, in his polo shirt and jeans, was preparing to meet the moment. His team had just completed its latest project — a brand-new health club in Central South Texas.
And Percy was feeling good, emotionally and physically, fresh off a recent shoulder surgery.
He quickly threw his arms above his head, took a deep breath and did a cartwheel across the floor. It wasn’t his most nimble of movements. His legs stayed bent through the awkward tumble. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was he completed the movement. Pain-free.
“It was a running joke, because I’m known to do a few cartwheels,” Percy said. “[My colleague] Amber and her team always get me on video doing funny stuff. So, two days before surgery I did some at our last work event. And then a few months after surgery, Amber was in town one day and I said to her, ‘If you’ll take a video and send it to Dr. G. [his surgeon], I’ll make it happen. And I think it was just one of those look-good, feel-good scenarios.”
That cartwheel came just 90 days after a major shoulder surgery, one Percy flew more than 1,100 miles to Louisville, Kentucky, to receive. For him, one 12-second video wasn’t just a celebration of a job well done. It was proof to himself that he was officially “back.”
Percy’s fitness fixation began young.
He played baseball through high school, then at a junior college in California. After that, he was recruited to play at some NCAA Division II schools in the Midwest but decided not to go.
He moved back home to Oregon to spend time with family as his grandfather’s health declined. That’s when his passion for the game turned into a passion for health.
“At the time, my grandfather was ill, and I just thought it was the right thing to do to get closer to my family,” Percy said. “And at the time, I thought I was going to be an architect. But I transferred back, got into fitness and fell in love with it all. I was working in a gym, because as a college kid I needed access to a gym without paying for it. And I got swooped up in it.”
He changed his degree and his life.
Years later, in 2009, Percy moved to Texas and rediscovered baseball in a different form. He got connected to a men’s tournament softball team and decided to give it a shot. The team played across the country, in tournaments in places like Virginia, Texas and Louisiana. He was hooked. Then he moved overseas to Singapore for work and found another travel softball team. He played for years in tournaments spanning Asia, including in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
“It was awesome,” Percy said. “The Vietnam tournament in Saigon was during September, which lined up for Vietnamese Independence Day. So, we got to see that celebration. We also did things like go for two to three days before the tournament, see the country’s sights, do some food tours and have fun. And to top it all off, I was doing it with people who I saw every couple of months. So, we built that camaraderie.”
As fun as it was, years of playing wore down Percy’s shoulder. He tried several rounds of cortisone injections. They hardly worked. It got to a point where he had to stop playing altogether. The pain was just too much.
“I had no ability to throw with any level of velocity,” he said. “The pain reduction from the shots and injections was very limited. So, I had to hang the cleats up, if you will.”
He knew at some point he needed a more permanent fix. Then a colleague in the fitness industry, Amber Givens, made a suggestion.
Amber’s husband is Justin M. Givens, M.D., orthopedic surgeon with Norton Orthopedic Institute.
“She told me, ‘You need to talk to my husband; he knows shoulders,’” Percy said. “So, I finally did. We connected and I sent him my X-rays and he told me, ‘Dude you have an old shoulder.’”
But Percy had just moved back to the United States. He and his wife were expecting twin boys. His shoulder was in rough shape, but he had to fight through it, at least for a little while longer due to other life priorities.
“I knew I was probably going to have to get my shoulder replaced, but I told myself that I wasn’t going to do it until the boys can get in their car seats by themselves,” Percy said.
Fast forward a few years.
Percy’s boys are almost 5. Now was the time to investigate his options. He reconnected with Dr. Givens, who worked with him from afar to have new images taken of his shoulder. It showed severe osteoarthritis and a roughly 30-degree retroversion — or backward tilt — of his shoulder socket (glenoid).
“The socket is supposed to be pointing out, and his was turned about 30 degrees toward the back,” Dr. Givens said. “And when we talk about which way the socket is facing, you need a nice flat surface, just like a golf ball and a tee. So, imagine you take your golf tee and lean it 30 degrees to one side; the ball falls off. Your muscles aren’t made to pull in those directions.”
On June 23, Percy and his wife flew from San Antonio, Texas, to Louisville so he could have surgery. The next day, Dr. Givens performed successful robotic-assisted reverse shoulder replacement surgery. Just 24 hours later, Percy and his wife flew back home to Texas. Three days to change his life forever.
“Dr. Givens was very genuine and kind, very responsive,” Percy said. “I felt like I was his neighbor that he knew and was going to care for. From the very beginning, it felt really natural. And being far away, I never got to see him in person until he came in, in scrubs, ready to do surgery. We had certainly talked on the phone and done some virtual conferences but meeting him before surgery was the first time shaking his hand. And even then, I felt right at home.”
Robotic-assisted reverse shoulder replacement surgery is a groundbreaking procedure that offers a higher degree of precision and accuracy compared with traditional methods of shoulder repair.
The technology is designed to elevate the surgeon’s control and confidence by providing the surgeon with a 3D image of the patient’s unique shoulder anatomy. Dr. Givens can then study the 3D simulations before surgery and view them on a screen during the procedure. The robotic arm assists him in shaving down the patient’s shoulder socket, creating the new surface and inserting the implant.
The robotic arm’s capabilities help provide enhanced feedback to ensure the implant is positioned within the preplanned boundaries, while aiming for improved accuracy. The goal is to allow for a more natural range of motion and better long-term outcomes for patients.
“We’ve never had this level of accuracy before in this field,” Dr. Givens said. “I now have a way to do those things. We could always simulate the way it should be, but the problem was we could never actually reproduce it in a person to this level of accuracy. This is the whole point of the robot. I don’t want one story to be like Percy’s: I want everyone’s story to be Percy’s story — one where they have a great transformation and their life has been changed.”
Reverse shoulder replacement is ideal for patients with severe arthritis, rotator cuff tears or other degenerative shoulder conditions that do not respond to conservative treatments. Furthermore, shoulder arthroplasty (reconstruction or replacement) is the fastest-growing joint arthroplasty in the U.S. According to Dr. Givens, more than 95% of patients are satisfied with their replacements, but doctors are consistently striving for more accuracy and consistency to improve that number and help patients achieve a higher level of satisfaction in a shorter amount of time.
Dr. Givens was among the first five surgeons in the country — and the first in Kentucky — to perform this procedure. In 2025, he’s performed more than 125 robotic-assisted shoulder replacements, making him a leader in the field.
“I think it’s a real honor to have people want to seek you out,” Dr. Givens said. “But I also think it brings on a real responsibility. People are coming because they’ve heard about great outcomes, because they want this experience they’ve heard about. But people are coming from a long way, and they’re looking for the best. We’ve created this shoulder team … and we’re trying to create something that’s next level, the best of the best. And it’s not because we want accolades. It’s because patients deserve that, and Louisville, Kentucky, deserves that. And so, we’re trying to make sure we’re at the top. And that means doing a lot of extra work, learning new techniques and new skills and trying to seek out what the next best thing is for our patients.”
Percy’s recovery went well. He was out of his sling in a week and used his fitness background, plus physical therapy, to slowly work his way back to 100%. Now five months removed from surgery, he feels great. He’s back to working out four days a week, including extensive strength training.
“I would say I have almost the same range of motion in both shoulders, even though one is replaced and the other isn’t,” Percy said. “The strength is coming back. I can do crazy pushups. I have great stability. And really, I wasn’t looking to throw gas and crank something up and strike people out. I just want to throw batting practice to my sons and play catch with them. That’s what I wanted this whole thing for.”
For Dr. Givens and his team, Percy’s recovery shows what’s possible when advanced technology meets compassionate care.
“It’s really fun when you get to see people who’ve had similar backgrounds as you,” Dr. Givens said. “Playing college baseball, I had a shoulder injury that ended my career. And I had to have a shoulder surgery, so I know what it’s like. And I think there’s something to be said when you have these combined experiences with people.”
And as Percy steps back onto the turf — strong, smiling, and ready for whatever’s next — he’s proof that sometimes the biggest comebacks start with one small leap. Or in his case, one imperfect, perfect cartwheel.
“It was a work happenstance conversation that turned into more,” Percy said. “I never thought that Louisville would be the place to go, but I am so glad I did. And I’d recommend to anyone else.”