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NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – At this phase of the
Afghanistan campaign, the most common method the enemies of
Afghanistan use to attack coalition forces is indirect fire,
launching mortars or rockets at their bases. Forward Operating Base
Fenty has received these kinds of attacks.
“I was sitting in
my room when the blast hit,” said Pfc. Nathan Lenard, Troop C, 4th
Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Cavalry Division. “It kind of knocked me down. I ... held there until
the blast was over and everything stopped shaking.”
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U.S. Army Private 1st Class Nathan Lenard, a combat medic, Troop
C, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat
Team, 1st Cavalry Division, walks down the sidewalk at Forward
Operating Base Fenty, Oct. 22, 2013. Lenard, a native of Becker,
Minn., discovered an injured soldier who had been severely injured
during a recent rocket attack here by the enemies of Afghanistan. A
rocket landed near the soldier, critically injuring him. (U.S. Army
National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 129th Mobile Public
Affairs Detachment)
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Whether or not an IDF round hits anyone is a matter of
luck and luck can go both ways.
“At that point I
grabbed my aid bag and the rest of my gear and put it on. I
started running outside,” said Lenard, a combat medic. "As
soon as I got outside, I couldn't see anything because there
was smoke everywhere. I started to go to the bunker ... the
smoke started to clear up.”
During this attack, one
U.S. Army soldier experienced both types of luck.
“I
saw someone [lying] on the ground,” said Lenard, a native of
Becker, Minn. “When I got closer, I realized that's exactly
where the blast hit. When I came up to him I realized that
it was one of my [sergeants].”
This time the enemies
of Afghanistan had gotten lucky with one of their IDF
rounds. The round landed near Staff Sgt. Joseph Gavin as he
was running for a nearby bunker. Gavin, a mortarman,
Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 4th Squadron, 9th
Cavalry Regiment, 2nd ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division, was
seriously injured.
“He was bleeding from every
extremity,” said Lenard. “I jumped onto his left leg and
started strapping on a tourniquet.”
Gavin's luck had
changed, this time for the better.
“My other medic
... Spc. [Kyle] Waldera ... he was running down [the stairs
and was] putting a tourniquet on his own arm ...and was
coming to help me,” said Lenard. “He ran over to Gavin's
right arm and started working on him.”
It was the
sound of the blast so close to the barracks that alerted
other soldiers that their battle-buddies might be injured.
“We were told by a cavalry soldier that the barracks got hit,”
said Maj. William Vanasse, a native of Milwaukee, Wis.
Vanasse, chief nurse, 759th Forward Surgical Team (Airborne), had
been playing volleyball with Dr. (Maj.) Weichen Chen, orthopedic
surgeon, 759th FST, and Sgt. Tommy Chavez, operating room
noncommissioned officer, 759th FST. The three soldiers ran toward
the sound of the blast. Vanasse estimated that they were on scene in
less than two minutes.
There were now five medical
professionals working on Gavin. While each of the men was working on
the wound in front of him, Vanasse realized that Waldera was having
trouble.
“I was telling him to tighten the tourniquet,” said
Vanasse. “I pressed on his [Gavin's] femoral [artery] ... In the
moment you're like ‘come on' ... hurry up.”
It wasn't until
later that Vanasse and the others realized that Waldera's arm had
been broken when he was struck by the shrapnel. With an open
fracture of his arm, Waldera continued to work on Gavin in an
attempt to save his life.
“I was still packing him [Gavin's
wounds] up,” said Lenard. “They [the other medics] were ... cutting
[his] shirt ... working on chest wounds, he had maximum facial trauma
... some arm wounds; both of his legs had arterial bleeds.”
Since he had been discovered, Gavin had been silently laying on the
ground.
“We couldn't get communication with Staff Sgt. Gavin
at all. We kept calling his name. At that point, I really didn't
know if he was alive or dead,” said Lenard. “When I was packing the
[leg] wound, he screamed ‘OWWWW.' That was the best thing I could
have heard all day...that means he's alive, he feels pain.”
Gavin's streak of good luck continued when a group of soldiers who
had been issued their own vehicle showed up and offered to quickly
transport Gavin to the base medical facilities.
“After the
IDF went off, we had him in the [aid station] ... within 10 or 15
minutes,” said Dr. (Maj.) Chan Webster, commander, 759th FST, “which
is very fast.”
“The expeditious transport was vital,” said
Dr. (Maj.) Kelly Lesperance, general surgeon, 759th FST, “it
probably saved his life.”
Several soldiers were injured in
this attack; however Gavin was by far the most serious.
“War
injuries are very different. They can affect more than one body part
... and they can be more severe. I work at Landstuhl [Regional
Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest Department of
Defense military hospital outside the U.S.], where I'm deployed out
of; we see all the injured soldiers ... they all come through
Landstuhl. [Gavin had] one of the most severe injuries I have seen.
He sustained several injuries from shrapnel and blast effects.” said
Lesperance, a native of Pensacola, Fla. “He was in severely critical
condition ... on the verge of death.”
The medical facility on
FOB Fenty is comprised of medical personnel from two units: the
759th FST and Company C, 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade
Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
Due to the severity of
his injuries, Gavin needed a lot of attention; the 759th was able to
devote its entire 21-soldier surgical staff to his case. The 94th
treated the rest of the injured.
Gavin was rushed into the
operating room where the doctors began to treat his injuries - most
importantly they had to stop the bleeding.
“I remember
looking into his eyes,” said Lesperance. “Seeing that look of ... he's
on the verge of death ... and thinking ... his family might be down one
son this Christmas.”
The surgeons were not about to give up
on Gavin.
“All of our surgeons were working on him,” said
Webster, “we're going to [do] everything we can to save [his] life.”
When supplies of Gavin's blood type began to run low, the 759th
was forced to request an emergency shipment be flown in by
helicopter from the hospital on Bagram Air Field. It was still not
enough.
“About two hours into the surgery is when we
activated the walk-in blood bank,” said Webster. “Because we only
had to focus on him [Gavin], we only had to ask for his blood type.”
The walk-in blood bank is just what it sounds like; the service
members on the base walk in and donate their blood.
“They
asked for his blood type over the [base] intercom,” said Webster.
“We had lines and lines of people who wanted to donate. We had more
people than we really needed. We had to turn some people away.”
Each person donated a pint of blood.
“We ended up giving
[Gavin] 25 units of that whole blood,” said Webster. “He definitely
received more blood products than we've ever given to one
individual. He received 100 units of blood products.”
In
addition to the 25 units of whole blood that his fellow soldiers had
donated, Gavin received 75 units of blood that the aid station had
on hand; a combination of prepackaged blood, freeze dried blood,
plasma and platelets. Some of this has been treated in such a way
that it made it difficult for the blood to clot.
“When you
give blood to someone who is hemorrhaging and they don't get the
clotting factor,” said Webster. “They just continue to bleed out.”
This made the whole blood that Gavin received from his
fellow servicemen even more critical. This blood still had all of
its clotting factors and Gavin desperately needed it. Even with the
blood and its clotting factors helping, the surgery itself was not a
quick process.
“He was initially on the [operating] table for
five hours, which is very long for a trauma surgery,” said
Lesperance, “but considering how many injuries he sustained ... and
how many procedures we had to accomplish to get him stabilized ... it
was appropriate.”
With the 94th collecting and screening the
blood, as well as treating all the other injuries, the 759th was
able to dedicate itself fully to Gavin.
And by all accounts
they did.
“We had our surgeons almost passing out in there,
because they were so dehydrated,” said Webster. “We tried to rotate
them out and to feed them and get them water. The surgeons were
definitely putting all their efforts in there. They were with him
the whole time he was in surgery.”
Eventually the surgeons
were able to stop the bleeding and get Gavin stabilized, before
moving him into the recovery area. But the doctors were not done
yet.
“We had to take him back into surgery again because he
started hemorrhaging again [from] the leg,” said Webster. “In total,
surgery time was ... eight hours.”
Gavin's streak of good luck
continued; there were no more trips to the operating table.
“Our team feels pretty good about it,” said Lesperance. “There were
so many factors that fell into place to allow him to survive. It was
a very severe injury and we were lucky that everything fell into
place.”
Eventually Gavin was sent to the hospital at Bagram
Air Field.
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U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James McConville, commanding general,
Combined Joint Task Force-101, Regional Command East, and the 101st
Airborne Division (Air Assault) congratulates Dr. (Maj.) Kelly
Lesperance, general surgeon, 759th Forward Surgical Team (Airborne),
Oct. 10, 2013, for the work she and her fellow soldiers did to save
the life of a soldier who had been severely injured during a recent
rocket attack here on Forward Operating Base Fenty by the enemies of
Afghanistan. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jerry
Saslav, 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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Currently Gavin is hospitalized in the U.S. where he
is still undergoing medical care. He has had several procedures to
remove debris that the blast embedded in his body. He has also
received additional blood transfusions. According to doctors this is
quite normal for soldiers who have been exposed to blasts. It will
be a long slow progress, but the doctors are confident he will
recover from his injuries.
Waldera is also back in the U.S.;
he took some leave before continuing with his rehabilitation and
physical therapy.
“I feel good. I was able to do my job. I
was able to do what I signed up for,” said Lenard, “I got to help
someone go home to their [family].”
By U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jerry Saslav
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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