Plows make way for Nebraska man to get a heart transplant

The Nebraska Department of Roads helped save a man’s life earlier this month.

According to KSLA, Dan Griffin had been on the heart transplant list for a year after a heart attack 13 years ago. But when the call came that a donor heart was available, 15 inches of snow had been dumped in parts of the 145 miles between his home in Elba, Nebraska and the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Fortunately, the Nebraska Department of roads and local firefighters were there to help.

The heavy snowfall and accumulation weren’t the only issues in the way, though. The winds were upwards of 50 miles per hour as the caravan of vehicles led by a snow plow made its way to Omaha through the night on a closed down interstate.

“When you cleared the path, it was just as wide as the vehicle so you didn’t have anywhere to go except follow the trail, and some of the drifts were actually over the top of the vehicle. And then when a snow plow hit it, you couldn’t see anything.  It was just a complete whiteout,” Elba Firefighter Tony Morrow said.

The caravan of firefighters and Department of Roads workers got Griffin to the hospital by 7 a.m. on Feb. 5, just seven hours after Griffin was notified that a new heart was on its way.

“That’s just what we do, that’s just what we do.  We help our community the best we can,” Elba Fire Chief Randy Faaborg said.