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Jesse’s second chance
When you spend your life keeping others safe, you never imagine you’ll be the one who needs saving.
For professional lifeguard Jesse, that’s exactly what happened.
In 2019, he was out surfing when everything went wrong.
He hit the water. And he breathed in.
Accidentally inhaling water can be incredibly serious, especially if there’s harmful bacteria in there. For Jesse, it meant category two sepsis, pneumonia and emphysema.
That’s when donated blood came in
Jesse can’t tell you much about it. He was in an induced coma when he received the transfusion.
“Based on recounts from friends and family, I didn’t have much of an option. My blood was toxic.”
So, what did he think when he woke up?
“Bit of an easy one. To put it simply I'm still alive, and have no underlining issues from being septic.”
A new perspective on blood donation
Before 2019, Jesse hadn’t given blood donation much thought.
“After receiving the treatment, I knew as soon as I could become a donor I would.”
“It really resets reality, that these things can happen to anyone, from freak accidents to severe illnesses. I was just super lucky to have walked away pretty well unscathed with a new perspective of life and that is because of donors, doctors and nurses that got me through it.”
Life-saving on and off the beach
Now, Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) is helping us encourage more people to give blood. And help people like Jesse.
“This is sort of one of those full circle things, Lifeblood ensures people like me get life-saving blood when they need it, to then hopefully down the road return a favour by helping those in need. It’s thanks to Lifeblood that I now get to work for SLSQ.” As for the donors who helped save his life? His message is straight from the heart:
“I would simply say thank you. It is because of them I get another shot of a normal life. It is thanks to them I get to continue to do the things I love. It is thanks to them I can continue to help others in the capacity as a Lifeguard and a Lifesaver.”
Saving lives doesn’t just happen on the beach. Sometimes, it happens in a comfy chair. With snacks.
