Dawson Mollenbeck

Dawson Mollenbeck has no memory of the explosion that threatened his life. There’s only the scar on his arm and his gratitude for the people who rallied to save his life.

Dawson, a STARS Very Important Patient, remembers waving goodbye to his wife before work one morning. “And then I wake up three weeks later in the hospital, all confused, with a cast on my arm, wondering where I am,” he said.

He was in a Saskatoon trauma centre, recovering from a severe workplace accident.

“From what I’ve been told,” said Dawson, “I was cutting into a 55-gallon oil drum that was sitting outside in the sun. Supposedly, it went boom, the lid peeled off the drum and, I’m assuming, wrapped around my arm. I think my arm hit my face, the lid hit the roof, broke the light, and, well, flew me back 12 feet.”

Hearing the blast, coworkers rushed to his aid. Dawson’s arm was obviously broken, and he was trying to get up.

He was soon in an ambulance bound for the hospital in Humboldt.

“They were saying my conscience level was on the better scale,” said Dawson. “By the time I got to the hospital, I dropped down to almost nothing, and they decided STARS had to come pick me up.”

His wife Emma was there when STARS arrived and was comforted by the professionalism of the air medical crew. Despite COVID restrictions, she was given a few minutes with her husband before watching him leave in the helicopter.

“Within that flight, they were able to perform a few different procedures that got him ahead,” said Emma, “so that when they got to the ICU in Saskatoon, they already knew, ‘Hey, these are some of the results, we can go ahead and start to figure out what’s going on.’”

In addition to a shattered right arm and a badly injured face, Dawson also sustained skull fractures, brain bleeds, and a fractured vertebra.

Despite the severity of his injuries, he’s since made a strong recovery. He’s about 99 per cent of his former self, according to Emma, and she’s grateful for the many allies who helped get him there.

“STARS is just a piece of the puzzle,” she said. “As grateful as we are to STARS, I’m grateful to anyone who played a role in it.”

Since the accident, Dawson and Emma have started a family and have stayed in touch with the STARS team in Saskatoon.

During a 2026 visit to the hangar, their toddler son Cooper was awed by the helicopter.

“It brings warmth to my heart,” said Dawson, “to be able to see my son running around the machines and the people that were able to be there to save my life, because if they weren’t there, he wouldn’t be here.”

Emma had a message for donors who make STARS possible.

“You are making the lives of so many people better,” she said. “You’re giving a sense of security to all of us. It’s only possible because of people who support.”