{"id":43055,"date":"2022-01-01T14:23:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T21:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=43055"},"modified":"2022-09-06T08:13:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T14:13:28","slug":"strangers-saved-his-life-blood-drive-gives-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/strangers-saved-his-life-blood-drive-gives-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Strangers saved his life. A blood drive gives back."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Dennis
Dennis Borland is a passionate hockey player that’s back on the ice after a motorcycle accident thanks to blood donors and his health care team at UCHealth. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dennis Borland, 54, will proudly show you the video of his first time back on the ice, nine months after a motorcycle accident took his lower left leg. He takes a few shuffles onto the rink and down he goes. But he gets up \u2014 over and over \u2014 because not skating again has never been an option.

Borland\u2019s hockey friends from the Fort Collins Pond Hockey League teamed up with Odell Brewing Company to host a mobile blood drive on Dec. 11, 2021, in honor of Borland. If you weren’t able to make it, consider becoming a donor on your own time at the UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Donation Centers in Fort Collins or Loveland by filling out this form for more information<\/a> or sign up for one of the community mobile blood drives listed at the bottom of this story.<\/div>\n

Borland’s story is one of determination and grit. But as he tells it, it\u2019s a story about how a perfect stranger saved his life. Borland has a tremendous appreciation for his medical care team but if it weren\u2019t for the quick action of a stranger who knew how to put on a tourniquet and the philanthropy of blood donors, he may not have lived. \u00a0And he wouldn’t be on the ice, working hard to get up again.<\/p>\n

The day he needed help from so many strangers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Borland didn\u2019t get into hockey until he was almost 30, but it\u2019s been his passion ever since. He started inline skating then joined the Fort Collins Pond Hockey League<\/a>. The members are his second family. Before the accident, Borland hit the ice several times a week to skate, or drop in on other teams to see if they needed a goalie.<\/p>\n

His wife, Jennifer, made him a deal: He could play as much as he wanted as long as he only participated in one league that cost money.<\/p>\n

\"hockey
Pond hockey player Dennis Borland has a tremendous appreciation for his medical care team but if it weren\u2019t for the quick action of a stranger who knew how to put on a tourniquet and the philanthropy of blood donors, he may not have lived to get back on the ice. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Borland doesn\u2019t remember much about hockey practice the morning of July 20, 2019, but after a scramble on the ice with others in his league, Borland put on his motorcycle leathers and helmet, got on his 2017 Heritage Softail, and started heading the 20-plus miles to his Johnstown, Colorado home to get Jennifer. It was a beautiful summer day and the couple planned to ride out to Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park.

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma. Learn more about Stop the Bleed training that can help you save a life.<\/div>\n

Borland was on Highway 60 near Interstate 25 when a vehicle struck his motorcycle on the left side. The impact crushed his hip, shattered his femur and tossed him 70 feet from his motorcycle. The first thing he remembers hearing is a stranger telling him he was going to put a tourniquet on his leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what color pain is \u2014 it\u2019s white. All I could see was white,\u201d Borland said, as he recalled the accident more than two years later. \u201cI remember thinking: I need to wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When police arrived, they replaced the stranger\u2019s tourniquet with their own. Borland heard the officers tell him how the stranger\u2019s actions had prevented fatal blood loss.<\/p>\n

Borland was transported to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies<\/a>, and just as he relied on the kindness of that stranger to stop his bleeding, he was reliant at the hospital on the kindness of blood donors to replenish what he\u2019d lost.<\/p>\n

\"Dennis
Goalie Dennis Borland gets his hockey skate onto his prosthetic leg before going out on the ice to practice. He lost his leg in a motorcycle crash almost two years ago but hasn’t let it get in the way of his passion as a hockey player. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trauma patients and blood donors<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Over the next two days, Borland received about seven units of blood (the body holds about 10.5 units) during an hours-long surgery in which doctors set his hip and amputated his left leg below the knee.<\/p>\n

Blood products needed for trauma patients, surgical patients and those with blood disorders or chronic illnesses such as cancer in northern Colorado come from donors through UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Donation Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blood donated through UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Donation Centers helps patients at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital<\/a>\u00a0in Fort Collins,\u00a0Medical Center of the Rockies<\/a>\u00a0in Loveland,\u00a0UCHealth Greeley Hospital<\/a>,\u00a0UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital<\/a> in Longmont, and Estes Park Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you donate blood, you never know who you are going to help,\u201d Borland said. \u201cIt could be your best friend, or it could be you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dennis
Dennis Borland practices with other hockey players at his local rink. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting back on the ice with a prosthetic<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Borland spent six days in the ICU and a total of 10 days at the hospital before he moved to an inpatient rehabilitation center. Within a week, he was ready to go home. Then, he received in-home rehabilitation care two to three times a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was determined to be back playing hockey by Christmas,\u201d Borland said. \u201cLittle did I know I wouldn\u2019t even walk again until Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

He learned how to navigate in a wheelchair and on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, he got his first prosthetic leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took time for me to work on my balance,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite the learning curve. I had never used these things (walker and cane) before.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the holidays, resolute in his desire to return to the ice, Borland strapped on his skates and stood back on the ice again \u2014 for about two seconds \u2013 on Feb. 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell \u2014 but I got right back up,\u201d he said, showing the video below on his phone.<\/p>\n