A cyclist who suffered a terrible crash, nearly losing his arm at the Salt Lake City Criterium on July 8, is thanking everyone who was there for him.
“Just wanted to make a post saying thank you to everyone reaching out and wishing me well and coming to visit me; it means the world to me,” Californian Ryan Jastrab posted on Instagram.
Medical professionals marvelled at the reattachment of Jastrab’s arm, describing it as an extraordinary feat following a horrific crash during the crit. According to witnesses, he suffered severe injuries to his right arm, nearly severing it at the shoulder, with only a small piece of skin keeping it connected.
A terrible finish to the race
Lance Williams, recounting the incident near the finish line to KSL.com, said, “It happened right in front of the finish line. Everyone was scrambling and pushing hard. It was reminiscent of scenes from movies where someone is gravely injured. I feared the worst; I thought he wouldn’t make it.”
Jastrab went on to thank the Emergency Medical Service team as well as the bystanders who quickly took action.
Initial prognosis was not good
“I also want to say how grateful I am for the Emergency Medical Service Team (EMS), the bystanders who took care of me until the ambulance showed up and took me to the first hospital where I learned that my arm was most likely going to be amputated, to the life flight crew who flew me to Intermountain Medical Center (the second hospital) where they took me in and got me into surgery right away, and to the skilled surgeons who did everything to save my arm.”
Right after the accident, a woman improvised a tourniquet using a man’s belt while they waited for the ambulance. Paramedics quickly took Jastrab to a nearby hospital.
A rush to save the arm
Time was of the essence to save his limb, but initially, things looked grim, he said.
“The ambulance showed up and took me to the first hospital where I learned that my arm was most likely going to be amputated,” he posted.
However, following that, he said that the life flight crew flew him to the second hospital, the Intermountain Medical Center.
“They took me in and got me into surgery right away, and to the skilled surgeons who did everything to save my arm. When I woke up from the surgery on Sunday morning, I still had my arm! I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the surgeons that reattached my 90 per cent amputated arm,” he added. “At the moment, I don’t know…
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