Following his life-changing accident, Zach Quandahl and his family distribute tourniquets to emergency responders through Blood Stops Here campaign
Giving back to those who give so much ... Thursday, September 5, Zach Quandahl of Waukon and his family distributed 400 tourniquets to area first responders so that every Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider, firefighter and law enforcement officer in the local area could have a tourniquet, such as the one pictured below, in their own personal vehicle in case of an emergency that would require one. At the scene of a May 3, 2024 motorcycle accident that resulted in the loss of Zach’s left leg, application by passersby of an initial makeshift tourniquet made of belts and eventually of a tourniquet similar to the one in the photo is credited with saving Zach’s life by preventing fatal blood loss. Pictured in the photo above at the distribution event with the Quandahl family are some of those first responders who received the tourniquet donation. Left to right - Front row: Jacob Dougherty and Bethany Stock of Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Ambulance Service, Brittany Darling of Lansing Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Zach Quandahl, Dusty Harrington and Paul Wagner of the Waukon Police Department, and Paul Whalen of New Albin Fire & Rescue; Back row: Tyler Plein, Dylan Farning and Sherry Jensen of VMH Ambulance Service, Clark Mellick of the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, Julie and Adam Quandahl, Carli and Dominick Mellick, Dave Martin of the Waukon Fire Department, Bob Mettille of the Waterville Rescue Squad, and Drake Tilson of VMH Ambulance Service and Tilson Rescue Supply and Tilson Defense. Submitted photo.
Continuing to live his life ... The loss of his left leg following a May 2024 motorcycle accident hasn’t kept Zach Quandahl of Waukon from continuing to live his life, as evident in the recent photo above of him working on one of the trucks on his family’s farm. Within three hours of his return home from his 12-day hospital stay following the accident, Quandahl was out planting corn with his father, Adam Quandahl. Submitted photo.
Kicking butt, indeed ... Zach Quandahl of Waukon works his way through some therapy with the new prosthetic limb he recently received following his motorcycle accident in May of this year that resulted in the amputation of his left leg. Neither the accident nor getting used to the new prosthesis has slowed Quandahl down much as he prepares for a more permanent prosthetic limb in the near future. Submitted photo.
by Brianne Grimstad
May 3, 2024 was a day that changed the life of Zach Quandahl of Waukon and his family members.
It was a nice day outside and Zach decided to take advantage of that by taking his Harley-Davidson motorcycle for a ride to meet some friends for supper in New Albin. Traveling along Highway 9, just north of Waukon past the Allamakee County Public Safety Center, the bike began to wobble, and Zach was unable to stop it. He met an oncoming vehicle and clipped the headlight of the car with his left leg.
He continued to ride as long as he was able to and slow the motorcycle down, before he himself went down. He was able to call 911 at 5:11 p.m. for himself.
Four people who encountered the scene of the incident stopped to give assistance, one of them being an off-duty EMT.
Zach’s left leg was lacerated badly, and with help from the bystanders, they used belts to make a tourniquet on his leg. One of the belts, however, broke.
Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick happened to be at the Safety Center and was able to rush to the scene with one of the tourniquets he had in his mobile medical bag. The EMT was able to get the tourniquet on to help control the blood loss before the ambulance arrived.
During this time, Zach also made a call to his dad, Adam Quandahl, to let him know he’d been in a bad accident. “He knew it was not good and said he might lose his leg,” Julie Quandahl, Zach’s mom, recounted.
By the time Adam and Julie arrived at the accident scene, Zach had already been taken by ambulance to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Having lost a lot of blood, he received six units of blood in Waukon and was air-lifted to Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI.
Due to the injuries sustained in the accident, doctors performed surgery to remove Zach’s left leg above the knee. During surgery, he received another four units of blood. Zach received another additional unit later in his hospital stay for a total of 11 units of blood.
“Getting the call from Zach himself was shocking, to say the least,” Julie said. “He hadn’t been wearing a helmet or any safety gear (the day he was riding the bike and had the accident).”
Julie also noted that there were a lot of people who heard about the accident and were praying for Zach and his family. “That got us through a lot,” she said.
NOT DOWN FOR LONG
After spending the minimum of 12 days in Gundersen, Zach returned back home. Having rented some farm ground, Zach had been disappointed that he wouldn’t get to plant his own crops this year. But after a mere three hours of being home, Zach went for a tractor ride with his dad, and then proceeded to plant 30 acres of his own corn.
He hasn’t slowed down since then. Two days after coming home from the hospital, he ran the sprayer in the fields on his family’s farm.
To read the full article, pick up the Wednesday, September 25, 2024 print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition or print edition by clicking here.
