Retired NCO credits blood donations for saving his life

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacque Lickteig
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Blood drives are almost as common as commander's calls here because Air Force leaders stress the importance of donating blood.

Retired Tech. Sgt. Derrick Duncan, a former jet-engine mechanic instructor here, knows better than most the significance of those lifesaving donations.

Sergeant Duncan packed his sport utility vehicle with all the equipment he needed to spend the day hunting April 6 with his son, William, and a friend.

The hunters headed south on Highway 79 when a relaxing day off turned into a struggle for life and death. At about 6 a.m. three miles north of Archer City, Texas, the driver of an oncoming pickup truck fell asleep and crossed the centerline into Sergeant Duncan's lane.

Sergeant Duncan tried to swerve to the right to miss the truck, but his attempt failed. The vehicles collided, causing the truck to spin out to the east side of the road and the SUV to flip on the passenger's side.

"My first thought was the safety of my son," Sergeant Duncan said. "From the time we collided to the time we stopped seemed like only a second. I reached back and was trying to free my son, and I knew instantly my legs were broken."

William and the friend escaped with only minor injuries.

Besides two broken legs, Sergeant Duncan suffered a lacerated liver, punctured diaphragm, ruptured colon and collapsed lung that was filling with blood.

"I knew from watching documentaries that I probably suffered internal injuries, and I knew my lung had collapsed because I couldn't breathe properly," he said. "I was screaming in pain and writhing in my seat, thinking to myself 'I just need to make it until the (emergency medical technicians get) here.'"

It took about 10 minutes for emergency medical workers to arrive after the collision, he said.

The impact of the collision pushed the SUV's dashboard in, pinning Sergeant Duncan inside the vehicle. Emergency responders had to peel the vehicle apart using the “jaws of life” to free him from the mangled metal.

"They cut me out and I kept telling myself 'If I get to the hospital, I'm going to live,'" he said.

Shortly after they arrived at the hospital, Sergeant Duncan was put in a medical-induced coma and placed on a ventilator to help him breathe.

Within the first 48 hours after the accident, the doctors used 40 units of blood and 20 units of platelets and plasma to stabilize him, he said.

"I depleted the Wichita Falls blood supply," he said. "They had to ship units from Dallas and Oklahoma City."

Sergeant Duncan spent about a month in the hospital going through several surgeries. The doctors removed his spleen, appendix, fluid from his lung and about 3 feet of his intestines.

He woke up May 2 in Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. His legs were repaired while he was hospitalized there.

Everything above his knees has recovered, he said, and he has got limited range of motion in his knees and ankles.

Sergeant Duncan stressed the importance of giving blood and what previous donors did for him. He said he would not be alive today if people had not taken the time to replenish a much-needed source. (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)