The Good Life – July-August 2020

LOCAL HERO | BRYAN KUTTER
Amanda Kutter, Bryan’s mother (Tamrie Kohoutek of Detroit Lakes, MN.,)
and Bryan’s father, (Keith Kutter of Breckenridge, MN.,) all flew to Ft.
Gordon to be with Bryan. Amanda was the first to arrive very late the same
night that Kutter was flown to Eisenhower Medical at Ft. Gordon. It was
after the surgery two days later that Bryan’s parents arrived. As an only
child not being with him was extremely stressful coupled with Kutter’s
medical team still were not able to determine definitively whether they
would be able to save his arm or not. At this point, all anyone could tell
them was that they were doing all they could. And after the first surgery at
Ft. Gordon, the doctors inserted two plates, one pin and some 25 screws
into his arm.
As the second surgery required more blood to be transfused into Kutter,
he started to feel the worst he had felt since the beginning when he had
been shot. At one point Kutter said “for the first time I thought I just might
die.” As the medical experts prepared Kutter for his second surgery, this
one to graft skin from his leg to the gaping wound on his bi-cep, Kutter was
getting the last of five extra pints of blood needed for the surgery. He began
to react violently with jerks and gasps. The medical team began checking
all the lines hooked to Kutter one by one. Whatever was going on inside
him was not getting better, only worse. Finally after several questions and
checks with rechecks were going on a doctor in the surgical room simply
said “when all else fails, return to the original path.” And with that the
doctor grabbed the blood transfusion line being pumped into Kutter and
unplugged it. Within mere minutes, Bryan Kutter felt his life had been
saved yet again. They found the blood Kutter was having pumped into him
for the surgery had bacteria in it that was causing him to basically shut
down.
their very first wedding anniversary
together when Amanda flew back to
Ft. Gordon to be with Bryan.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE
HOME
In November of 2006, Bryan was
able to transfer home through the
Army Community Based Health
Care Initiative. During his continued
rehab, Bryan went through Merit
Care in Fargo (aka Sanford). Kutter’s
Some five months later, after being in an active-duty rehab unit at the Augusta
Veterans Hospital and also in an out-patient wing at Eisenhower, Kutter
was sent back home, to Minnesota. In August, Bryan and Amanda spent
12 / THE GOOD LIFE