|
LEGENDARY ALASKAN SHARES STORY
The only time Al Bramstedt ever gave blood he passed out.
That was 38 years ago when he was in the Air National Guard in Texas.
Of his flight of 40, he was the only one to have trouble.
Just the sight of blood was enough to knock Al out cold. They brought
him around with smelling salts and he promptly passed out again.
Over the years his skin has thickened. Living with type 1 diabetes
since 1970 and the genetic legacy of his mother, who died of coronary
disease, have exacted a difficult toll on his body, but not his
attitude.
He’s faced a morass of medical complications including open
heart surgery, internal hemorrhaging, blood clots, stroke and the
threat of losing both feet to amputation.
He details his experiences like a soldier who is proud, not of his
battles but of what he’s learned from them, and how well he
is doing today.
"I’ve been through a lot,” Al said. “You
just have to focus on the positive.”
He’ll even pull up his pant leg to show off the scar where
doctors turned a vein in his leg into an artery.
The recipient of more than 10 units of blood over four separate
occasions, Al is thankful for Alaska blood donors.
In 2001, following open heart surgery to replace a damaged aortic
valve, Al learned he had received a transfusion of blood during
surgery.
"What a decent thing for a human being to do, to take the time
to donate blood,” Al said.
In spring of 2006, Al suffered internal hemorrhaging from a large
polyp in his digestive tract. His heart struggled to make up for
the blood loss; his resting pulse was 125 beats per minute.
He received five units of blood prior to surgery to remove the polyps.
"I immediately felt a whole lot better,” Al said. In
fact, while recovering at his lakeside cabin, he had to remind himself
to take time to heal, instead of picking up his chainsaw and returning
to the heavy labor he loves.
But days after the surgery, he felt what he describes as an “explosion”
in his body.
The same man who, 38 years prior, had passed out donating a pint,
kept his cool as his body bled two-fifths of his blood volume internally.
Al returned to the hospital where it was determined one of the surgery
sites had ruptured.
Immediately following repair surgery, he received four more units
of blood and resumed his recovery. That fall, he received two more
units when his blood volume ran low for unknown reasons.
"You have a lot of time to think when you’re getting
transfused,” Al said. "We’re all so busy and focused
on our personal lives. But to stop, come to the blood bank and give
blood – there is nothing more caring and loving than giving
blood to people you will never meet.”
|
