A Fateful Detour

A car ride following routine surgery turned into a ticking clock for Keenan Anderson. This story is one of trust and love and a strong dose of good fortune.

A lot went wrong for Keenan on his fateful drive home last summer; even more had to go right for him to survive.

The Lead-Up to Surgery

Keenan was born and raised in Grand Island. His wife Heather was born in Nashville but has lived in Grand Island since the age of 14. They met through a mutual friend at a game night a few years ago.

“I remember her walking in the door, looking so cool,” Keenan said affectionately. “Then her coat caught on the doorknob and she kind of stumbled backward. I think that caught my attention.”

Heather jokes that she did that on purpose. The couple hit it off and have now been married for close to five years.

Keenan works for the City of Grand Island as an IT infrastructure engineer. Heather used to work as a nurse at Grand Island Regional Medical Center but now works as a hospice nurse.

Keenan has several spinal issues that he has dealt with over the years. One of the issues his surgeon wanted to address last year was his spinal stenosis, which is the narrowing of spaces within the spinal canal. The smaller space puts pressure on the spinal cord and surrounding nerves.

Keenan first had a surgery to relieve this pressure. He then needed a second surgery in Omaha to correct kyphosis – an excessive forward curve in the spine that can make it look like a person is hunched over.

The morning of the second surgery, on August 26, 2025, Keenan and Heather arrived in Omaha. Keenan woke up from the routine procedure a few hours later feeling fine. He was discharged later that day.

Heading Home

The couple hopped on Interstate 80 and drove west to get home to Grand Island. Somewhere around Lincoln, a small lump developed in his neck where the incision had been. At first, Keenan didn’t think much of it, but it started to grow. By the time he and Heather were between the York and Aurora exits, Keenan was having trouble talking. His voice was extremely scratchy and hoarse.

Behind the wheel, Heather quickly glanced over at Keenan. With her medical experience, she knew that the situation was serious.

“I didn’t want to act like it was as critical as it was so he would stay calm,” she said. “So, I told him that maybe he was having an allergic reaction, and we would get him treated. But in my mind, I was freaking out.”

Heather knew she could pull off the road to seek emergency care, but because of the couple’s prior experiences at GIRMC, though, they made the decision to press on.

“My gut told me to keep going and get back home,” Heather said.

Keenan’s condition continued to worsen. He started to have difficulty breathing.

“I knew that whatever was going on in my neck was starting to compress my windpipe,” he said. “I was starting to get quite panicked.”

His breaths got shorter and shorter as they pulled off I-80 at the Grand Island exit. It takes just under 10 minutes to reach GIRMC after leaving the interstate.

“By the time we actually pulled up in front of the emergency room doors, I could no longer breathe.”

A Race Against Time

The couple leapt out of the car – Heather doesn’t think she turned off the engine – and raced inside. Keenan ran past the check-in desk and stumbled into the ED.

Staff quickly took one look at Keenan and immediately brought him to a room for emergency treatment.

Heather recognized the clinical lead nurse in the ED, Erin Nowak, RN, from Heather’s time working at GIRMC. While Keenan was being treated, Heather told Erin the backstory of Keenan’s surgery and his condition as they drove home.

“She was definitely trying to be the calm to his storm,” Erin said. “With her medical background, that’s always challenging to step back from that role and be the family member in that situation.”

In those moments of fierce stress and uncertainty, Heather said she found some comfort in her familiarity with the surroundings and people at GIRMC.

“One of the reassuring things for me was that there were familiar faces,” Heather said. “I had worked with some of the people before and just felt as safe as I could in that situation.”

Keenan’s memories start to get fuzzy at this point, as his brain was without oxygen. He mostly remembers the feeling of intense panic.

Heather said her husband looked at her and choked out the words, “Honey, I’m dying.”

Ear, nose and throat specialist Tyler Bliss, MD – one member of the treatment team – quickly assessed that Keenan was bleeding in his neck cavity. Dr. Bliss and the rest of the care team cleared the fluid and restored his airway.

Ultimately, Keenan went around three minutes without oxygen. Any longer, and he could have suffered permanent brain damage.

Erin said they were able to quickly call in the necessary specialists to safely navigate his unusual scenario.

“The stars aligned for Keenan, and I’m very grateful that we were able to get everybody there in such a short amount of time to stop the bleeding that was causing his issues,” Erin said.

“That’s When I Knew He was OK”

Once Keenan was stabilized, Dr. Bliss told Heather that Keenan would need surgery and invited her back to Keenan’s room for a few moments. She got up from the waiting room and returned nervously to the ED to speak to an unconscious, intubated Keenan.

“He was so pale,” she said. “I didn’t know if he was going to make it, to be honest. I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ There was so much going through my mind.”

The team then transferred Keenan to the OR. Friends and family showed up for Heather while she was waiting during Keenan’s surgery.

After the surgery, Dr. Bliss told Heather that Keenan’s vitals had stabilized and he would be moved to the ICU.

Keenan was lightly sedated when Heather and her oldest son went to see him for the first time after surgery. They were able to hold his hand, see his eyes open and tell him they loved him.

He was on a ventilator for two and a half days. Soon, Keenan could communicate with his nurses and family with a notepad. One of his main concerns was whether the hospital television network would show the opening Nebraska football game against the University of Cincinnati.

“That’s when I knew that, cognitively, he was ok,” Heather said.

Heather remained with Keenan during his entire hospital stay, sleeping in a chair next to his bed, reclining with her foot on his hand.

When his breathing tube was removed, Keenan coughed up a bit of mucus and then took a huge, deep breath to test his lungs. All felt normal.

“I knew at that point I was going to be very lucky and get out of this,” he said.

Gratitude

He was discharged on Friday, three days after his emergency. On Saturday night, he and Heather went out to eat with friends. Keenan only missed the next week of work as he continued to recover mentally as much as physically.

“I felt so good; I think I was just so elated to have made it through,” he said. “I just wanted to get out and skip and jump and enjoy being alive.”

Erin said she is glad they chose to seek care at GIRMC on that day last summer.

“I just thank them for trusting Grand Island Regional and seeking our help,” Erin said. “Heather did an incredible job of supporting her husband in a very scary situation. You could truly see the love and worry in her eyes.

“We can’t guarantee a good outcome, but we can be that sense of hope and reassure patients and their families that we’re doing everything we can.”

Keenan and Heather have a new lease on life. Keenan feels grateful every day to be alive. The couple’s love for their city, and their appreciation for their regional medical center, have been reinforced as they go forward.

If you enjoyed this story, you can read more patient stories, or you can subscribe to our Journeys magazine.

To learn how you can support the work of Grand Island Regional Medical Center, please contact the Grand Island Regional Medical Center Foundation staff by calling 308-675-5000.