Four months after suffering a near-fatal motorcycle accident on CO 67 N., 72-year-old Guy Theriot attributes his recovery to receiving whole blood in the ambulance. 

Speaking during a press conference on Nov. 24, Theriot recalled that day in August when he and a friend headed for Sedalia, intending to stop for a hamburger.

“I was riding a BMW GS, a beautiful motorcycle,” he said.

The two came to a wide sweeping turn on the highway, with Theriot increasing his speed to keep up with his buddy.

“I probably should have backed off when I saw gravel on the side of the road,” he said. 

Crash landing in the gravel, Theriot broke ribs, injured a kidney and ruptured his spleen.  Looking back, he recalls being aware of his friend holding his head.

“The next thing I remember is the paramedics cutting my clothes off with scissors,” he said.

He recalls riding in the ambulance.

“I remember kind of peacefully fading away, but then becoming more lucid and aware,” he said. “It seemed peaceful with a lot of light.”  

Theriot’s feelings were due to the transfusion of whole blood.

Within minutes of receiving the 911 call, Lt. Kailynn Hathaway, Janee Karle and Jerek Bickford, paramedics with Ute Pass Regional Health Service District, arrived at the scene.  

“He was halfway on the road and the bank,” Hathaway said. “His blood pressure was 60/40 and I couldn’t find a pulse.”

The paramedics weighed their options: take the patient by helicopter or ambulance to UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs.

Before the introduction of whole blood in June, the three would likely have chosen the helicopter. The program is the result of the partnership between UCHealth and the health service district.

“We stopped at the station to pick up the whole blood pack,” Hathaway said.

As the paramedics administered the transfusion on the ride to the hospital, Theriot’s vital signs improved.  

“Before we had the program, we could only replace fluid patients had lost,” Hathaway said. “We are all excited to have the program here; sometimes our transports are an hour to an hour-and-a-half.”

The county’s mountain terrain is another factor in delayed response times.

“Teller County presents unique challenges,” Karle said. “The whole blood program buys the patient time to get to the hospital.”

On the ride down Ute Pass, Karle noted Theriot’s improvements, to the heart rate, skin and conversation. 

“He was joking around,” she said.

Alerted to Theriot’s condition, surgeons were ready to operate soon after he arrived at the hospital. 

“I have a scar that runs from just below my sternum to about three or four inches below my belly button, so obviously they opened me up quite a bit to be able to access what had been injured,” Theriot said.

Dr. Sean Keenan, Teller County EMS Medical Director for UCHealth, initiated the program last year for the Colorado Springs Fire Department.  

Before the press conference, the paramedics had not heard the end of the story.

“This is awesome,” Karle said. “We don’t get to meet patients to follow up.”

The section of the highway, mile marker #191 is known to be dangerous, said Bickford, who drove the ambulance.   

Along with the transfusion, Theriot credits the impact of emotional support for his recovery.

“My St. Michael’s Church family rallied around me,” he said. “If I didn’t feel so good I’d be a bit leery about getting on a motorcycle again. I think I just have a good attitude.”

But there’s a glint in his eye about getting on a motorcycle again, speaking of feeling a sense of freedom while riding.

“Uuhhhhhhhhhhu….. I’m a little rebellious,” he said.