Jason Bursell
Two years ago, Jason Bursell decided to take a mid-March snowmobile ride. While traveling at night through an unfamiliar area north of his usual route, he hit a cement culvert that threw him into a drainage ditch where he laid unconscious for some time. "When I started coming to, I had no idea where I was or what had happened," he said. Bursell was partially submerged in about three feet of cold, flowing water. "I had my cell phone and tried to use it, but it was wet and didn't work."
He yelled for help. "I could see cars driving north and south, but I was too far away on an east-west road. I tried climbing out of the ditch, but the sides were almost straight-up. I tried to stand but couldn't." Bursell's only chance was to force himself inch by inch up the drainage ditch wall. After a long struggle he made it and dragged himself to the side of the road. It was not a well-traveled stretch of highway. "I finally saw headlights coming my way," he said. "The guy driving the car said he thought he saw a bag of garbage, but at the last moment, noticed my eyes. He had no cell phone so he lifted me into the back of his car and drove me to Fairmont Medical Center – Mayo Health System."
"The first thing they did was try and warm me up," Bursell said. X-rays showed a broken femur and three pelvic fractures. He was quickly sent to surgery where a rod was placed in his leg.
Bursell's kidneys had also been badly bruised and it was discovered he'd been bleeding internally. "They gave me two blood transfusions right away. I thought I was doing pretty well," he said, "until I tried to stand up and almost passed out. I was still very weak." Bursell received two more blood transfusions. "Ten days later, I was able to leave the hospital," he said. He then began nine months of physical therapy including treatment for a fractured bone in his right shoulder, torn ligaments and frostbite damage to all of his fingers.
"I'm not sure I could've made it without the help of blood transfusions," Bursell said. "The transfusions gave me the strength to recover so I could get out of the hospital and get on with my life."
A donor since high school, Bursell, like most people, never thought he would need blood himself. "From what I've experienced," he said, "donating blood is one of the greatest things a person can do. And it's easy. Since my accident I've donated blood three times and will continue to do so every chance I get."