SAN ANTONIO – Sometimes time is all it takes -- it can make the difference between life and death.
“I lost an immense amount of blood, I lost about half my blood volume by the time my airLIFE crew, my ground EMS crew and my airLIFE crew arrived on scene,” Scott Mussey said.
Another GREAT story on tap for tonight! The @connectforlife’s Brothers in Arms program is responsible for saving hundreds of lives a year because of prehospital blood transfusions after traumatic events. One of those lives…Scott Mussey. @ksatnews pic.twitter.com/GH4YG3ShWU
— Leigh Waldman (@LeighWaldman) January 30, 2022
He is describing what happened to him last April at his home in Pleasanton.
Mussey was working on a a piece of farming equipment when the grinding disc “exploded and sent a piece through my forearm and cut multiple arteries in my forearm and caused an extensive amount of blood loss, you know, muscle damage, nerve damage, tissue damage.”
Thanks to an on scene blood transfusion from the Brothers in Arms program, he made it to the hospital.
“Knowing I received that whole blood transfusion was ultimately responsible for me being here today to be able to have a conversation with you,” Mussey said.
The program, started in San Antonio in 2018, has led to a 25% decrease in deaths from traumatic events like Mussey’s, saving hundreds of lives in a year.
“That program doesn’t happen without actually people behind the scenes taking the time to roll up their sleeves and give that life-changing gift,” Mussey said.
Nine months after receiving that gift, Mussey was able to shake the hand of one of the blood donors who saved him.
“I didn’t know I gave him that gift until now, and I feel super blessed,” John Divila, one of Mussey’s donors, said.
Mussey will need to wait a while until he’s able to donate blood for someone else, but he and Divila hope this will inspire others to give the gift of time and blood to a stranger.
“The feeling of saving someone’s life is rewarding in itself,” Divila said.
“As a recipient of that gift of life, that it is something that the person who receives it on the other end is going to be forever changed,” Mussey added.
Donating to the Brothers in Arms program is as easy as donating whole blood normally, but the criteria they’re looking for is a bit different.
The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center is looking for men with type O blood to donate.