Dave's 397-Day Fight for Life

🎙️⭐Don't forget to 👍🏻and subscribe!

🚁When flight nurse Dave lifted off for what seemed like a routine helicopter transport, he had no idea it would end in catastrophe. Moments after takeoff, the helicopter crashed—killing the pilot, leaving Dave with burns over 90% of his body, and injuring his partner, who managed to scramble out. Dave was airlifted once again—this time as the patient—to a burn center where doctors gave him a negative 140% chance of survival. After 397 days in the hospital, countless surgeries, dialysis, and the loss of circulation to his limbs, Dave defied every medical prediction. He spent 5½ months in a coma, waking up unable to move or speak—a nightmare come true for both him and his wife, Amanda, who is also a nurse. Amanda was by his side every single day, advocating, hoping, and helping him find strength when he couldn’t see it himself.

Dave’s first words were, “I want to die.” But the next morning, when he realized he could move and speak, he made a choice—to fight. From that moment, he and his wife built a path forward together. For nearly a year, Dave hovered at death’s door, facing every imaginable complication and losing half his body weight. When his kidneys failed, an acquaintance named Matt—“he barely even knew me, just knew my name”—stepped up as a living donor, giving Dave the gift of life once again.

Today, Dave and his wife are powerful advocates for burn survivors, living donation, and helicopter safety, determined that no one else should have to go through what they did. They’ve turned tragedy into purpose, finding meaning and grace in survival itself.

“It helps us heal every time we tell our story.”

“When you recognize you’ve been given a gift—you get to go forward.”

Now back to driving, hiking, and running rivers in an inflatable kayak, Dave continues to redefine what it means to survive—and to truly live.

Also listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yPv16c... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

For more information on organ transplantation: https://www.americantransplantfoundat... https://www.livingliverdonation.com

Follow us on social media:   / american_transplant_foundation     / americantransplantfoundation     / americantransplant   https://x.com/amertransplant