I love this story. Snowplows clear roads for transplant patient.
Convoy plows path in whiteout conditions for man who needed new liver.
It took five snowplows, a sympathetic Wyoming trooper and no small amount of determination, but Chuck Forbes got his liver.
Forbes, 59, today described the events that led to a race against time and through a blizzard to get into surgery at the University of Colorado hospital where he received a life-saving transplant early Sunday.
Forbes, a Vietnam veteran who likely contracted hepatitis C in a battlefield blood transfusion, had felt pain in his abdomen for more than 30 years as he suffered the progressive affects of hepatitis C and alcoholism.
Finally, the pains got so bad, Forbes moved from New Hampshire with his wife Ruth to Meeteetse, Wyo. to be closer to a relative.
A year ago, the pain grew more severe, and Forbes learned that he had tumors in his liver. He needed a transplant or he would die, said Dr. Michael Wachs, a transplant surgeon at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
Saturday morning at 7:30, Tracy Steinberg, the hospital's transplant coordinator, called the Forbes family. They first took their horses to a neighbor and their dogs to a kennel.
Just before noon, they climbed into their sport utility vehicle. By the time they reached Wheatland, about 100 miles from the Colorado border, snow was falling and winds blowing so hard that they could barely see the highway. Interstate 25 was closed.
Ruth Forbes frantically called 911 on her cellphone. The dispatcher was unbending.
" 'I'm sorry ma'am. We've been forecasting this storm for a week. You should have known it was coming,' " she said the dispatcher told her.
When Ruth Forbes described the emergency, the dispatcher agreed to call a Wyoming state trooper, Chuck Bloom. But Bloom was even more stubborn than the dispatcher, warning the Forbeses that it was against the law to drive around the gates toward Colorado.
Bloom said the blizzard was so bad that if anyone got stranded on the highway they weren't sending tow trucks to rescue them.
"This wasn't just for a few gusts of wind, it was constant," he said. "I said maybe you need to go back to the hospital in Wheatland."
Ruth Forbes was adamant. Her husband's life was at stake.
"She shed a few tears, and the trooper went and made a call," said Chuck Forbes in an interview at his hospital room.
Bloom called John Benton, a Wheatland foreman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation. He called Rick Schultz, 46, who said the snow was so thick at times he couldn't see the plow in front of him.
"I knew it was going to be dangerous, but a gentleman's life was on the line," he said.
Ruth Forbes said she saw the headlights of a giant snowplow appear.
In Chugwater, 26 miles later, Schultz's snowplow was replaced by five as they drove to the Wyoming border at a top speed of 25 mph, with Forbes staying close behind and following the plow lights. It took about five hours to go 100 miles.
"It was mesmerizing," Ruth Forbes said. "All that white for so much time."
At the Wyoming border, the snowplow drivers stopped to celebrate, Ruth Forbes said. The Forbes were back on their own.
But the storm was not nearly as fierce in Colorado. Soon, the highway cleared, and the Forbes arrived at the hospital nearly 15 hours after they got the call.
The operation early Sunday morning was a success, Wachs said. Chuck Forbes said he was grateful to the nurses and doctors at the hospital.
But the former snowplow operator said he is particularly indebted to the Wyoming plow workers. He still doesn't know their names.
"I owe each one of them a hug, a handshake and a big steak."
Schultz said he was glad to help.
"It was very gratifying."
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12100452
It took five snowplows, a sympathetic Wyoming trooper and no small amount of determination, but Chuck Forbes got his liver.
Forbes, 59, today described the events that led to a race against time and through a blizzard to get into surgery at the University of Colorado hospital where he received a life-saving transplant early Sunday.
Forbes, a Vietnam veteran who likely contracted hepatitis C in a battlefield blood transfusion, had felt pain in his abdomen for more than 30 years as he suffered the progressive affects of hepatitis C and alcoholism.
Finally, the pains got so bad, Forbes moved from New Hampshire with his wife Ruth to Meeteetse, Wyo. to be closer to a relative.
A year ago, the pain grew more severe, and Forbes learned that he had tumors in his liver. He needed a transplant or he would die, said Dr. Michael Wachs, a transplant surgeon at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
Saturday morning at 7:30, Tracy Steinberg, the hospital's transplant coordinator, called the Forbes family. They first took their horses to a neighbor and their dogs to a kennel.
Just before noon, they climbed into their sport utility vehicle. By the time they reached Wheatland, about 100 miles from the Colorado border, snow was falling and winds blowing so hard that they could barely see the highway. Interstate 25 was closed.
Ruth Forbes frantically called 911 on her cellphone. The dispatcher was unbending.
" 'I'm sorry ma'am. We've been forecasting this storm for a week. You should have known it was coming,' " she said the dispatcher told her.
When Ruth Forbes described the emergency, the dispatcher agreed to call a Wyoming state trooper, Chuck Bloom. But Bloom was even more stubborn than the dispatcher, warning the Forbeses that it was against the law to drive around the gates toward Colorado.
Bloom said the blizzard was so bad that if anyone got stranded on the highway they weren't sending tow trucks to rescue them.
"This wasn't just for a few gusts of wind, it was constant," he said. "I said maybe you need to go back to the hospital in Wheatland."
Ruth Forbes was adamant. Her husband's life was at stake.
"She shed a few tears, and the trooper went and made a call," said Chuck Forbes in an interview at his hospital room.
Bloom called John Benton, a Wheatland foreman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation. He called Rick Schultz, 46, who said the snow was so thick at times he couldn't see the plow in front of him.
"I knew it was going to be dangerous, but a gentleman's life was on the line," he said.
Ruth Forbes said she saw the headlights of a giant snowplow appear.
In Chugwater, 26 miles later, Schultz's snowplow was replaced by five as they drove to the Wyoming border at a top speed of 25 mph, with Forbes staying close behind and following the plow lights. It took about five hours to go 100 miles.
"It was mesmerizing," Ruth Forbes said. "All that white for so much time."
At the Wyoming border, the snowplow drivers stopped to celebrate, Ruth Forbes said. The Forbes were back on their own.
But the storm was not nearly as fierce in Colorado. Soon, the highway cleared, and the Forbes arrived at the hospital nearly 15 hours after they got the call.
The operation early Sunday morning was a success, Wachs said. Chuck Forbes said he was grateful to the nurses and doctors at the hospital.
But the former snowplow operator said he is particularly indebted to the Wyoming plow workers. He still doesn't know their names.
"I owe each one of them a hug, a handshake and a big steak."
Schultz said he was glad to help.
"It was very gratifying."
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12100452