‘I Was 5 Minutes Away From Dying:’ Baldwin Man Reunites With Trauma Team That Saved His Life

OCEANSIDE, NY. — 21-year-old Dante White returned to Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital Wednesday, reuniting him and his family with the team of first responders and medical professionals that helped save his life after a March crash left him in shock.

In March, the then-20-year-old White came home to Baldwin from college. A member of the track and field team at New Haven College, White decided to go for a run around the neighborhood on March 10.

During the run, Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital officials said, White stopped at an intersection outfitted with stop signs before continuing to run through a crosswalk. As he did, a car ran a stop sign. White tried unsuccessfully to jump out of the way, and was hit by the car.

During the crash, hospital officials said White landed on the hood of the car and his right arm smashed through the windshield, tearing skin and cutting an artery in his armpit. Nassau County police, Oceanside and Baldwin firefighters and EMS all responded to the scene, packing White’s arm with gauze in attempts to stop it from bleeding.

“I would for sure have died,” White said of the accident Wednesday. “I was five minutes away from dying, so thank you, for the paramedics, and everybody that helped me.”

While he was on the way to an emergency room at Mount Sinai South Nassau, hospital officials said White went into hemorrhagic shock, a life-threatening condition that the National Institute of Health says occurs when someone loses so much blood that their heart can’t deliver enough oxygen to the rest of their body.

From there, Mount Sinai South Nassau’s trauma team took action, administering medicine intravenously and helping Dante regain consciousness four days later in the ICU. While the immediate concern was for the wound to his arm, one member of the trauma team said there was just as much concern from medical professionals for wounds that they couldn’t see when White arrived at Mount Sinai South Nassau.

“Considering the mechanism of his injury involved him getting hit by a car, the primary concern wasn’t just for this laceration that we found in his armpit, but that he might have other internal injuries, too,” lead trauma physician Bianca Redhead said.

On March 21, White was transferred to Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital to receive vascular and skin grafting care, returning home 10 days later.

In the eight months since, White has been back to Mount Sinai for follow-up procedures, helping him regain mobility and feeling in his arm all the way to his fingertips.

During Wednesday’s events, White’s recovery and the healthcare work that made it possible were celebrated.

“Just in time for Thanksgiving, we’re here to celebrate the remarkable recovery of Dante White. Dante and Theresa and Wayne wanted this opportunity to thank the first responders,” Joe Calderone, senior vice president for communications and development at Mount Sinai South Nassau, said.

“If you’re a trauma center, you all have to be ready, on a moment’s notice, to save a life. And that’s really what happened, in Dante’s case,” Calderone added.

For his part, White said he was thankful for the work everyone involved did to help him through multiple surgeries and the better part of a year in recovery.

“I’d like to say thank you to everybody, especially the first responders, for saving my life, and everybody who helped me with the surgeries, and my family, my friends, of course. I wouldn’t have made it, mentally, without everybody supporting me by my side,” White said.

In the eyes of trauma team administrators present Wednesday, the recovery effort was something all will remember forever.

“His survival was not the work of one person, or even one team, but the result of a coordinated effort involving paramedics, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physicians, social workers and many others whose names the public may never know, but whose impact is unforgettable,” James Maurer, trauma medical director at Mount Sinai South Nassau, said. “Dante, your determination and courage have inspired all of us. As we head into this season of gratitude, we’re thankful that not only you’re here with us today, but you have a promising path forward.”

In closing his remarks, White shared a positive update: He has gotten the green light to start running again.

“People always ask me, ‘Am I good?’ I’m always good,” White said. “Even when I was at my lowest moment, I was still good. As long as I’m alive, I’m good.”