Ryan Straschnitzki STARS Very Important Patient

3 weeks ago

1 minute read

Ryan’s life was forever changed on April 6th, 2018 when a Semi-Truck crashed into the bus carrying his hockey team, the Humbolt Broncos. The impact left Ryan severely injured and fighting for his life.

On that day, multiple STARS Helicopters, alongside those of our partner organizations, were deployed to do everything possible to help those injured.

In Ryan’s case, the deployment of a STARS critical care team was vital as Ryan was able to be stabilized and assessed for surgery during his flight. This pre-treatment meant that doctors at the hospital knew exactly what they needed to do to save Ryan’s life, and that they were ready and waiting to take him into surgery as soon as STARS touched down at the hospital.

While the combined efforts of STARS and the ICU team at the hospital were able to save Ryan’s life, he unfortunately lost the use of his legs. However, he continues to highlight the positive milestones of his recovery.

“I had to learn how to do all these things for myself to live an independent, healthy life,” said Ryan. “That was a little intimidating at first, but I had to breakthrough those barriers and eventually reached a point of independence. Having that independence and freedom back and achieving those little milestones that we often take for granted is huge and it goes a long way mentally and physically and allows you to reach more and want to reach more and do more things.”

Despite the challenges of his changed life, Ryan has confidentiality emerged from his injury and is now working to give back to others.

“The biggest pillar of my life, since having my life saved, is that I can play adaptive sports and be an advocate for the disabled community.”

Ryan is proud to share his STARS story and encourages you to join his campaign in support of the Critical Care on the Air Radiothon.