Kings Park man beats long odds and lives to thank the life savers at South Shore University Hospital

In the early morning hours after surgeons stitched up motorcycle crash victim Christopher Barradas’ aorta and lungs, his family did not know if he would wake from his medically induced coma.

"At three in the morning they did tell us ... there’s nothing else they can do because they gave him the best medicine they can give and did as much surgery as they could," his father, Luis Barradas, recalled. "His blood pressure, if it didn’t come up, he was not going to make it."

Thanks in part to the anesthesiology team at Northwell Health's South Shore University Hospital, Christopher Barradas, 22, of Kings Park, indeed made it, staying alive after having a 95% chance of dying. On Monday, he and his family met those anesthesiologists, who spent hours by his side after the Sept. 17 crash in Commack, at Northwell Health’s fourth annual anesthesiology lifesaver award ceremony at its New Hyde Park headquarters.

"I was obviously incredibly grateful for the team that I had," Barradas said before their reunion.

Caitlin Eyerman, a certified registered nurse anesthetist and among those recognized Monday for their efforts helping Barradas, embraced him and his family members before wiping away tears and collecting one of several bouquets given to honorees.

"Everyday I would go and see him in the ICU," Eyerman told Newsday after Monday’s surprise reunion. "To see him up and walking and talking is incredible. ... To have him hug me and tell me ‘thank you’ and that he’s off living a very normal life is so special and fulfilling. It reminds me why we do what we do and that every person on our table is somebody’s somebody."

While riding his 2016 Ducati in Commack on Sep. 17, Barradas collided with another vehicle and was rushed to South Shore University Hospital in critical condition, according to the health care network. Five hospital anesthesiologists gave him 100 units of blood, more than 10 times the amount in a normal adult, to stabilize his blood pressure and overcome his 5% chance of survival.

When Barradas arrived in the operating room nearly five months ago, his chest was filling with blood, he had extremely low blood pressure and his organs were failing.

"He had crushed his whole chest," Michele Barradas said of her son.

Surgeons located and stopped Barradas’ internal bleeding while the anesthesiology team "worked to keep him alive managing complete cardiovascular collapse," according to a Northwell news release. Eyerman said she and another anesthesiologist, Dr. Christopher Wilson believed Barradas to be "grossly unstable" in the intensive care unit after the surgery. As Barradas condition worsened and he could not be moved, they helped create a makeshift operating room and continued their blood transfusions and IV drips while surgeons operated once more.

"The anesthesiology team usually hands the patients to the ICU and leaves," Dr. Joseph Marino, the senior vice president of anesthesiology at Northwell, said. Instead, Marino said, Eyerman and Wilson conducted "pharmacological orchestration of different medications to maintain [Barradas’] blood pressure" in the ICU.

This year marked the first time Northwell recognized an entire team of anesthesiologists, in addition to individual nurses and physicians who save lives during extraordinary circumstances. Eyerman and the other members on the team worked together to resuscitate Barradas on three separate occasions, Marino said Monday evening. The other team members honored included Dr. Matthew Ajayi, Dr. Phillip Chin and Dr. Andres Santos.

After several weeks in the hospital and more weeks in rehab, Barradas relearned how to walk and eat. While he still attends physical therapy, he returned to studying applied economics at Farmingdale State College and hopes to pursue a career in business brokering.

Barradas said he was "grateful for everyone keeping me alive and in good spirits and good health. ... For everything they’ve done for me, the least I could do is say thank you."