The Christmas season is full of joy and wonder, but it only takes a few seconds for the excitement of the season to turn into a nightmare. On December 20, 2021, Heather Van Boerum was heading into Costco when tragedy struck. She was walking through the busy parking lot, talking to her husband, Don, on the phone, when she heard a commotion behind her. 

When she turned to see what was happening, she saw a car back up rapidly, bounce off another vehicle, and then ran into her before hitting another car. She was momentarily pinned between the two vehicles before falling to the ground. She had thankfully jumped so her torso avoided injury, but her legs weren’t so lucky.

Her right leg was immediately amputated, and the artery in her left leg was torn and continuously bleeding. At this point, she didn’t realize her leg had been amputated. However, when she looked up, she was horrified at the amount of blood. Since her husband was a trauma surgeon, she knew you didn’t survive losing this much blood. Heather’s phone was still connected, and Don had heard everything. Not long later, he heard her say, “I’m going to die.”

Immediately after the accident, several bystanders hurtled into action. A woman named Terry got Heather’s name, held her hand, and continually spoke to her to try and keep her awake and alert. One man ran into Costco and got a first aid kit, but it didn’t have a single tourniquet inside. Someone called 911, and the dispatcher walked them through fashioning makeshift tourniquets. 

Not long after, an ambulance arrived, and the paramedics applied a CAT tourniquet to each of her legs. Heather was extremely fortunate because the trauma one hospital where her husband worked was across the parking lot. She was rushed into the emergency room, and over the four weeks she was hospitalized, she had eight surgeries. 

Heather is now a double amputee who’s made it her mission to spread awareness about the importance of knowing how to save a life and having life-saving equipment on hand. 

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