By Rick and Paula Zimmerman in their own words and compiled by Colleen Hathaway, Red Cross Cascades Region

Rick

I’m a contractor who lives in Depoe Bay with my wife, Paula.  On August 16, 2022, I was on a job site in Pacific City hitching a trailer to my Dodge Ram 3500 (a large truck weighing around 8,000 pounds with a high-output engine and extensive towing capacity).  As I worked to hitch the trailer, the truck began to roll, and it was pointing toward a house.  I sprinted and jumped into the cab to stop it, but I was thrown from the vehicle.  The truck’s dually tires ran over me, crushing my pelvis and severing my main artery.

The odds were against me.  I was bleeding out.  On the Life Flight to OHSU, we had to divert to Salem Hospital because they ran out of blood.  They gave me blood, but they couldn’t give me pain medication because my blood pressure was so low. That was the hardest thing.  After Salem, I heard the Life Flight nurse ask the pilot how much further.  The pilot said, “Five minutes, but there’s only two minutes of blood left.” That was the last thing I heard before landing at OHSU. It broke through the pain.  By the time we got to OHSU, they couldn’t find the source of the bleeding because there was so much blood.  I thought, “I could die tonight.  This could be my last night on Earth.”  

Paula

I met Rick at the Salem Hospital ER.  The doctor let me and my daughter into the room and tried to prepare us for what we were about to see. I only realized later that they had let us in to say goodbye.  Rick was critically injured.  He was quickly losing blood, had broken his pelvis in half, severed his urethra and even broken an ankle.There were piles of towels with blood and gauze and saline solution.  I thought, “This is really bad.”  

The next half hour or so was critical to preparing Rick for the next leg of the trip to OHSU.  As fast as they were giving him blood he was losing it.  He later had a CT scan that showed that blood was coming from a tear in his main artery, which is very serious.  I asked a nurse, “Is he going to make it?”  She said she hoped so.  I counted 14 people all steadfastly working together to save his life.  They were obviously trained for this–the way they also had the ability to comfort me, pat me on the back and say it was going to be okay.  Even though the staff were able to slow the bleeding, I felt like Rick barely made it to OHSU.  It was 12 hours after the accident by the time they were able to get the bleeding to fully stop.

Rick

They call me “The Miracle Man.”   I was resuscitated three times.  They had to hold me together because the pelvic operation wasn’t until a week later.   I’ve had eight surgeries since the accident and I have one more to go on August 23rd in Seattle.  They need to reattach my urethra; I’ve been on a catheter for almost two years.  I lost 130 pounds.  There have been a lot of ups and downs.  I use walking sticks now which is an upgrade from the walker and I’m getting better day by day.  The first step I took after physical therapy made me dizzy because I had lost muscle mass and my blood pressure would drop.  That was April 1, nearly eight months after the accident. 

Paula

It takes a village to put Humpty Dumpty, as we jokingly say, back together again.  From the ambulance driver to the flight nurse to the staff resuscitating him and tying off eight blood vessels, and to the folks who donated blood.  Thank God for people giving blood–it was 13 units between Salem and OHSU. Our daughters insisted they come with me.  His brother was also there. His village was waiting for him. 

Rick has a background as an athlete playing basketball at Lewis and Clark.  His coaches told him not to give up.  That’s where he learned that.  So I told him, “Don’t you give up on me!” He doesn’t remember, but he responded, “Okay, honey.”  Rick was on pain medication for a while of course, but I remember it all.  Hundreds of people over the last two years have had a hand in his recovery. Both Salem Hospital and OHSU are well-oiled machines in our experience.  At the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon (RIO, inside the Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland) Rick had three hours a day of physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for several weeks.  

But RIO also helped me as the caregiver, teaching me how to do some things to support Rick.  They told Rick that he had to learn how to do some things on his own to help me.  Rick’s doctor said that his sense of humor and positive attitude were strong and important for his recovery.   

I have plans to write a book now about our experience that will hopefully help others.  I had to be Rick’s voice and advocate when he was the most vulnerable and defenseless. I learned a lot about the healthcare system and about patients’ rights.  I advocated for Rick to get services at RIO, and I’m glad I did.

I used to get upset about things like Rick’s infections because I thought he would die in the hospital.  But now, I take the day for what it is.  I learned to breathe, and little by little I started to believe he would be okay.  If Rick doesn’t ever get any better than this, then we’re really okay.  This is our new normal and if we get anything else, it’s a gift.  

We have found that trauma can take away everything and your life can change in an instant. But we have also learned that love, determination and miracles can get you through.  I’m trying to put some humor in the book.  We joined a gym so he can work on his core and I can get some exercise as a caregiver.  He may have titanium screws now, but he just turned 70!  

This is one of countless examples of why blood donation really matters. Just ask the Zimmermans. Every pint counts. This is true, especially right now. We are experiencing an emergency blood shortage across the country. Please consider rolling up your sleeves to help those who need it and maybe even save a life. Go to RedCrossBlood.org and make an appointment today.