Duane Gerdes

On May 10th 2019, Duane was going to visit a friend on his motorcycle.  He was about to turn into his driveway and was rear ended by an SUV.  This SUV passed another vehicle on the right, on the shoulder.  He sustained many injuries, including a lacerated liver, a lacerated spleen, damage to his abdominal aorta, 8-12 broken ribs and a broken back.  He did not have a head injury, thank goodness.   He was taken to Mercy Hospital where he received life saving surgery to repair his liver and spleen and stop the internal bleeding.   He was in Mercy's ICU for 20 days.    In that time he had 3 more surgeries (repair aorta, repair back, remove spleen after it ruptured a week in, and a repair to a pseudo aneurysm in the liver).  He was intubated and on the ventilator for about 2 weeks, after which he got a tracheostomy, still on the ventilator.   Once his oxygen levels were under control, he was transported to Bethesda Hospital in St Paul, where they specialize in weaning people off ventilators and start the physical therapy he will need so he can some day walk again.   He has a long, hard road ahead of him but he has great determination and will persevere.  
Sherrie (Duane's loving bride)