Lisa Rowe
When Lisa Rowe was 17 years old, she didn’t expect to be alive, much less be sharing her story about the value of blood donation, 18 years later.
In 1990, Lisa was in a horrific one-car accident that almost ended her life. On the day of the accident, she was driving her pickup truck, not wearing her seatbelt. When her vehicle flipped over, Lisa fell out of the driver’s seat and the door closed on her feet. While she was stuck in this position, the pickup flipped up to five times. When the vehicle finally stopped, the door opened again and she fell out. Both feet were severely damaged.
A man on his way to work found Lisa on the side of the road. By this time, she had lost a significant amount blood. He called for help and she was sent by Med Flight to St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula, Montana.
She was in surgery for several hours as surgeons tried to save her left foot and pin together her badly-broken right foot. During the surgery, she received blood transfusions as well as a bone graft from an organ donor. “I don’t know exactly how much blood I lost, or how much I received during my week-long hospital stay, but it was a lot,” Lisa said. “I would like to thank all of the blood donors out there – they saved my life.”
The value of blood donation is not new to Lisa. “My late father was also a blood recipient – he received large amount of blood from donors while undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma – a cancer of the bone marrow.”
In 2005, Lisa was still suffering from horrendous chronic pain in her left ankle and need to have it amputated at Stoughton Hospital in Stoughton, Wis. Since the car accident, her life has changed as she has overcome many obstacles and had more surgeries. Not a day goes by when she isn’t thankful to the blood and organ donors that gave her a second chance at life. She’s back working full-time and is happy to be where she is in life.
“I’m alive and well and prospering. I recently was fitted for my running leg, and soon, I’m hoping to participate in a sprint triathlon.” In an effort to repay what she has received, Lisa is now a regular Red Cross blood donor as well as a registered organ donor.