Never Give Up

David Gerbstadt’s trauma chart reads at the top:
Semi truck vs. bicycle.

David’s femoral artery severed by the femur bones sticking through his leg. He had two minutes before he would bleed to death. Knowing response time by paramedics was three to five minutes he had to save his own life. David held the artery till the paramedics got to him. When the paramedics did get to David he had no blood pressure.
No blood was flowing in his body. David remembers everything the paramedics said to one another as they worked on him. David died not long after he was put into the ambulance.

This story does not end tragically though. The paramedics preformed CPR in route to the waiting helicopter. Thirteen minutes later David landed at Bay Front hospital on the roof. Taken straight to the 2nd floor where he went to surgery for four and half-hours. He coded two more times. By the time he got out of surgery he had already gone through forty units of fluid. David went through another twenty-one units of blood in the next few days.

At nine pm that same night David came to and saw his oldest sister a doctor her self over him. “Your at Bay Front hospital you will walk out of here.” She smiled. David wiggled his toes and knew he had his spine and both his legs. At 1 am his dad and second sister arrived from Boca Raton, Florida. Morphine took his pain and let him sleep. It did not silence the screams, alarms, and the sight of priests and family members coming out of rooms crying. Death was common. The whole time he was in ICU he was not sedated.

Then next morning a nurse who was in the operating room came in not expecting to see David but she did. The doctors and surgeons all checked on him and eagerly asked how he knew what to do? We debated for a long time to save your leg or not the doctors said. We can not explain why you are still here. You should be dead they all said.

Ten days in ICU and forty more days in the hospital David did walk out side and went home.

The story continues David’s goal is to run a mile and go beyond. My running shirt will say. “The truck did not stop me it just slowed me down”. The first time I died I saw the “light”. Death is beautiful. At the moment of near death I simply knew what to do. We all will know what to do.

David was told in the hospital by many people to tell his story. David has become a motivational speaker by just telling his experience, strength, and hope. nn