On a warm summer day in July, Konner Harenda and his brother Travis set off on their motorcycles to have lunch with their uncle. They played it safe, watching their speed and taking back roads, avoiding high-traffic areas. As they traveled south through a green light, a car traveling northbound abruptly turned left in front of them.
Konner and Travis couldn’t stop in time.
Konner was knocked out instantly and an off-duty nurse and off-duty police officer at the nearby gas station jumped into action, saving Konner’s and Travis’ lives. Konner was rushed to the hospital with several injuries, including a shattered elbow, a broken arm, nerve damage in one hand, a lacerated liver, a collapsed lung, a shattered knee, a broken leg, and a traumatic brain injury. He spent weeks in a coma and months in the hospital recovering.
“I ended up in the hospital for five months or so and had around 27 surgeries,” he says. “I don’t remember much of anything, but I know I received blood transfusions, which helped save my life.”
Despite everything he has been through, Konner wouldn’t change a thing. “After all the trauma I went through, I had two options: I could hate the world and be angry, or I could find the smallest thing to be happy about. I chose option #2,” he says. “Who I was before the accident, I can’t really remember. But in this present moment, I’ve learned who I am, and I know where I’m going.”
He credits blood donors with helping him get there. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without blood transfusions. They literally kept me alive,” he says. Now, he shares his story with the hope of inspiring others to donate blood.
“I spoke with one blood donor and told him my story,” Konner says. “He said he’d been donating since high school, but after hearing my story, he said he’s going to donate for the rest of his life.”
People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.
We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.