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Paul, recovered and thriving, looks out over Sacred Rim, Wyoming, celebrating life after a near-fatal accident.
Every day in our community, ordinary people donate blood and give the gift of life. For Paul, that gift came at a moment he never expected, and it came from 12 strangers whose generosity changed his path forever.
Paul remembers having a night of normalcy and connection in October 2014. He had dinner with his teenage daughter and took a familiar route home on his motorcycle. He was fully protected with a high-quality helmet, armored jacket, and reinforced riding pants. He was alert and cautious on the road. Then everything changed.
“A driver turned directly into my lane. I braked, laid the bike down to mitigate the collision, and slid across the pavement,” Paul said. He estimates his body struck the other car at 25–30 miles per hour, and at first glance, it didn’t seem catastrophic.
“Bystanders, EMS workers, and even I didn’t fully grasp the severity. I was conscious, talking, and asking to go home, but inside I was dying,” Paul remembered.
He had broken his back, his neck, and 17 ribs; he had punctured his lungs; and his right lung was rapidly filling with blood.
The hospital became Paul’s battleground. He was rushed into surgery and then the ICU. For the first 10 days of his ICU stay, he was in a medically induced coma, and for the following six weeks, his body fought for every breath.
Throughout that fight, he received 12 units of donated blood.
“Without those donations, my body wouldn’t have had the oxygen, clotting factors, and fluid volume needed to survive. I would not be here today,” he said.
Each unit of blood came from someone Paul has never met, but together, their gifts made his recovery possible.
“Those selfless individuals took time out of their days to donate blood so that I could have a second chance,” Paul said.
Recovery wasn’t easy. Paul spent weeks relearning how to stand, walk, swallow, eat, and drink. He faced setbacks, but gradually, he returned to doing what he loves, which includes hiking, camping, skiing, and spending time with the people who matter most.
Through it all, he never lost sight of the reality that ordinary people saved his life.
“You never know whose life you might touch. For me, it was twelve donors. Twelve lifelines. Twelve blessings. Twelve chances to wake up and hold my daughter’s hand,” Paul said.
His story is a reminder of why blood donation is so critical and why ARUP Blood Services exists: to serve our community as the sole blood provider for University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics and the Huntsman Cancer Institute, every unit donated here stays in Utah.
We invite you to donate. Your blood could be someone’s miracle.
Schedule your appointment here.
Jazlee Blake, jazlee.blake@aruplab.com
