Thursday, December 4, 2014

Andrew Eskola, Iraq Veteran or Guardian Angel?

Iraq war veteran’s military skills help save Brainerd man’s life
Brainerd Dispatch
By Forum News Service
Dec 3, 2014
“A lot of times we take these young vets for granted,” said Bingham, “but they truly have a lot of skills to offer. It would have been like trying to plug a hole in a water pump without that tourniquet.”

Frank Bingham, 61, of Brainerd discovered the hard way just how helpful strangers can be.

Bingham was on his way home via medical transport from Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis following treatment for a heart issue a couple of weeks ago. The van driver had to first make a stop to drop off another patient at Black Bear Casino Resort and then headed over to the Junction Oasis to gas up.

Bingham headed to the restroom but found the two stalls were occupied. As he waited, he took off his Harley Davidson jacket and discovered “blood running out of my arm like a waterfall,” he recalled.

“I started feeling faint so I dived for one of the urinals and held on for dear life,” he said.

A young man came out of one of the stalls and immediately came to Bingham’s aid. As it turned out, the young man was Andrew Eskola, the store manager, who told Bingham he’d learned Combat Life Saving (CLS) skills while serving in Iraq and Kuwait.

Eskola joined the Guards after graduating from Esko High School in 2007 and deployed with the Red Bulls to Kuwait and Iraq in 2011-2012. He was honorably discharged in December 2013 after seven years of service.

Thankfully, what he learned there stuck with him.
read more here

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