Fast-Acting Minnesota Woman Saves Husband’s Life with Tourniquet
By Liam McCarthy
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Rosaline and Shawn Groven
Like many Americans, Shawn Groven spent his Labor Day working outside in his yard, but a routine afternoon quickly turned grim when an accident with a hay baler severed his arm. However, thanks to the quick response of his wife, Rosaline, and the bleeding control kit they had on hand, Shawn is alive today to tell the story.
“I started up the baler, then looked back where it picks up the hay,” Shawn said. “It looked like it was stuck or it wasn’t working right. So, in a hurry, I just jumped out of the tractor, went back there, took a look at it. I must’ve leaned in or somehow got my arm between the rollers on the baler.”
Shawn and Rosaline live in rural northwest Minnesota with their five children and have always understood the importance of being prepared for emergencies, especially bleeding emergencies since a person can bleed to death in just a few minutes.
“The average time where we live for an ambulance to get to us is 45 minutes,” Rosaline said. “And in some areas where hunting cabins are, it’s more like an hour and a half.”
Shawn was able to wrest himself from the baler, leaving his arm behind. The heat from the machine had cauterized his severed artery, preventing blood flow temporarily, but Shawn knew he didn’t have much time. He managed to walk through the yard to ring the front doorbell and alert his family inside.
“Can someone help me?” He shouted. “I ripped off my flippin’ arm.”
Rosaline, initially assuming her husband might have a deep cut requiring stitches, was shocked by what she saw in the doorway.
“It was like seeing something out of The Walking Dead,” she remarked. “He was standing there, there was a bone sticking out, and there’s skin hanging down, and muscle.”
Thankfully, Rosaline knew what to do. She yelled for one of her sons to call 9-1-1, then grabbed one of their bleeding control kits, which she keeps in every bathroom of their house.
A lot of people were surprised that it’s free to sign your community up and find people to come train you [on bleeding control]. They were just really amazed that there was something out there about it because they hadn’t heard about it.
Rosaline, who’s been a high school teacher for 31 years, is an advisor for Key Club, a student-led service organization that provides opportunities for leadership development through community service. One year, they decided to host a bleeding control training session at their annual conference.
“Because we live in a rural community, I just felt it was important for kids to know,” she said. “If kids can learn CPR, they should be learning Stop the Bleed. Just as you learn choking prevention, you should be learning about Stop the Bleed.”
Rosaline applied a tourniquet to Shawn and they raced to meet the first responders, their youngest son riding in the backseat with dad to help keep his arm elevated. Shawn initially received treatment at Sanford Hospital in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, before being airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. His doctors commended Rosaline for her quick action, indicating that the tourniquet likely saved his life.
Since her husband’s accident, Rosaline has taken to social media to emphasize the importance of bleeding control. Her initial post garnered more than 100 shares and has sparked numerous side conversations with people eager to learn more.
“A lot of people were surprised that it’s free to sign your community up and find people to come train you,” Rosaline said. “They were just really amazed that there was something out there about it because they hadn’t heard about it.”
Shawn waves to the crowd from the field at a football game.
Her efforts are focused not only on getting people trained in bleeding control techniques but equipping the next generation to learn and teach this important skill. Rosaline is currently in talks with the health careers teacher at her high school to make this part of the curriculum. She’s planning on having her students all get trained to be trainers, to go into the community to train others.
Shawn is adjusting to his new reality with an upbeat spirit that his wife calls, “amazing.”
“Phantom limb pains, that’s what I’m dealing with now,” he said. “But it’s healed up pretty good.”
Rosaline’s children would always laugh at her when she brought up what to do in worst-case scenarios. Now, they’re all too aware that an emergency can happen anywhere, anytime, and learning how to control bleeding is a simple way to potentially save a life, given that uncontrolled bleeding from an injury is a leading cause of preventable death.
“It’s hunting season up here,” Rosaline said. “Somebody could fall out of a tree stand and be impaled with something, or they could be shot. We have cattle—someone could get hurt with that. You could come across a car crash, and somebody could be bleeding. You just don’t know. Why not learn it? It’s simple, it could save a life. It just makes sense.”
