Seriously injured during a terrible accident last year, a construction worker’s life was saved thanks to 40 blood transfusions which literally emptied the bank available at that time, in Center-du-Québec.
The 1is May 2023, businessman Marc Ouellette was on an agricultural farm in Tingwick when he was thrown by a mechanical excavator following an accidental wrong move by an operator.
“At the time, I’m sure I died in the hole,” he explains.
With his back open and the right side of his body lacerated, Mr. Ouellette remained on the ground for 45 minutes in the rain and the cold while trying to breathe. It takes a long time for specialist emergency services to reach the site with a stretcher. He ultimately left a kidney and a lung in this misadventure.
Vital importance
“They tried to unfold me, but it didn’t work. I was screaming quite a bit and I was still conscious,” adds the victim.
In total, 40 transfusions will be necessary to keep him alive between the farm and the hospital, first in Arthabaska, then in Fleurimont. Héma-Québec estimates that it received approximately 20 liters of blood in 48 hours.
“He emptied the blood bank at the Sherbrooke University Hospital. He kept losing them. I had never before been hooked on the importance of donating blood,” explains his partner, Christiane Gagnon.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
The 68-year-old excavation contractor still has tears in his eyes as he recounts how he survived after a ten-day coma. Hospitalized for at least three months, the sixty-year-old with good muscles even defied the odds by returning home after 24 days. From July, he was able to gradually return to the office.
“The blood is what saved me. Otherwise, I would have died in the ambulance. It was 40 people who supported me, who allowed me to live. I’m up today.”
Moving testimony
During a special evening organized by Héma-Québec, Marc Ouellette delivered his moving testimony in front of 350 major donors on Thursday evening.
“It’s not easy to tell, but I want to say thank you to those who allow me to live. My heroes are the donors.”
In Quebec, the organization honored 472 donors, including a dozen with 1,000 or more donations of blood products. The guests were all donors of 100 donations or more.
This fall, some 1,739 donors will be honored during an extensive tour across the province.
Already 569 donations
At 37 years old, Louis Frenette-Nolin has already donated 569 blood products. “On my birthday, at 18, it was the first thing I decided to do. There was a mobile collection at the Cégep,” says the donor.
Since then, the 30-year-old has added platelet and plasma donations every two weeks to his schedule. “I usually don’t miss appointments but I can work during my visit. I bring my cell phone. It’s very simple. »
Thursday evening, the donor was very happy to be able to meet recipients who survived after a blood transfusion. He also encourages new donors to try the experience for the first time.
Photo Jean-François Racine
Blood is a product for which there is no substitute. Maintaining the collective reserve relies entirely on the generosity of donors. To meet the needs for blood products of the Quebec population, 1000 donations per day are necessary. Each blood donation can help save several lives.
