February 14, 2008, I suffered a thoracic aneurysm as I was getting out of bed that morning. A 911 call was made and by luck a Sarasota Fire Department EMS crew was 4 doors away helping a neighbor. I was rushed to Doctors Hospital where Dr. John Puleo diagnosed my condition. Dr. Puleo phoned Dr. Joe Schiro at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and I was again rushed to Sarasota Memorial for emergency chest surgery. Dr. Puleo explained to my wife that it was a fixable condition but didn’t know if there was enough time. He said I had a 30% chance. I was in the operating room for more than 12 hours bleeding uncontrollably. Dr. Schiro told my wife that they have done everything possible but if the bleeding didn’t stop there was nothing more they could do. Well the bleeding did stop. If it wasn’t for the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank and the blood donors I would not be here today. I used 69 units of blood. That’s 9 times the amount of blood in an averaged-sized person. Dr. Schiro said he has never lost a patient or had to cancel an operation for lack of blood from the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank. I’m lucky that there was enough blood on the shelves. I’m probably the one person who caused a blood shortage. Thanks to the blood donors, the wonderful doctors, the fantastic EMS crew, the dedicated people who process the blood at the blood bank, I’m here today. Please give blood its safe, its easy and the life you save may be your own.