    Tissue Recipient |
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One month before retirement, police officer Mike Blood was left for dead after being shot several times. Miraculously, Mike survived, thanks in part to a tissue transplant, 19 surgeries and 120 units of blood during a year-long hospital stay. Three months into his recovery, a bone transplant repaired the large area of missing bone from his right leg. Mike now enjoys his retirement golfing and fishing. Mike's Story November 16, 2000 began routinely for Officer Mike Blood. Mike loved police work, but was also looking forward to retirement in less than one month. Mid-morning into his shift, Officer Blood got a call about a bank robbery in progress. He and six other officers responded to the call. Mike was the first officer in the area, and discovered the getaway car parked a block from the bank with the license plates removed and guns and ammunition on the passenger side floor. As Mike moved his squad car to conceal it nearby, the robber stepped from behind a building only a few feet from Mike’s car and immediately opened fire with a semi-automatic assault rifle. The first round of bullets sprayed through the passenger side window and one bullet went through Mike’s hips. As Mike ran from the squad car to escape further rounds of gunfire, a second bullet went through his lower right leg.“That second bullet took out both bones of my lower leg, my Achilles Tendon, and much of my calf muscles. As my leg collapsed, I fell face-first striking my right shoulder. The blow to my shoulder nerve left me unable to move my arm or return fire. My only alternative was to play dead,” said Officer Blood. Still the robber continued firing rounds. The third and fourth bullets entered under Mike’s right shoulder blade and exited through the left side of his abdomen. “The hole from those two bullets was big enough for another officer to put her fist in,” said Blood. “She had to do that to stop the bleeding.” It took 19 surgeries, 120 units of blood, and one year in the hospital for Mike Blood to recover. It also took the selfless gift of tissue donation. About three months into his recovery, Mike underwent additional surgery to repair the damage to his right leg. Because of the large area of missing bone in his right leg, Mike received a bone transplant which eventually filled in that missing section, becoming part of his own leg. “They couldn’t take bone from my hip because there was nothing there. The damage from the bullet to that area was severe, and I was in a great deal of pain.” Instead, the doctor used donated bone tissue. Thank goodness that option existed,” said Mike. Today Mike Blood leads a normal life. He’ll never run a marathon, but he can walk. “The transplant means so much to me. Now I can play golf, fish, and enjoy a better quality of life. I’m moved that someone would make that sacrifice for me. When you become a tissue donor, you never know who you’re going to help. Also, you never know if you’ll ever need tissue one day.” |