N.B. man saves N.S. man by pinching his artery for 45 minutes to stop massive blood loss

A Nova Scotia man who was hit by a car and nearly died says a volunteer firefighter from New Brunswick saved his life in August when he pinched his artery for 45 minutes while waiting to be taken to hospital.

"I was on my way to the sister's wedding [on a motorcycle] with the groom just around the corner from my house. The groom took the wrong turn ... and as we were coming back, this lady ran a stop sign on the same road ... she just hammered me," Brandon Maloney of Stewiacke, N.S., told CBC's As It Happens in an interview on Tuesday.

Maloney said he knew immediately he had lost part of his leg and was in deep trouble.

"The blood was just kind of pouring out, it wasn't squirting. It was literally just like a faucet. Me and the first guy tried to put a belt on there and a few towels and stuff to get it to stop but it kind of kept pouring," Maloney said.

"There was a little time where I laid back and thought to myself, 'Damn, I'm going to end up dying on the side of the road here in a minute.' I took a couple of deep breaths, but Troy popped up at just the right time."

Troy Burke, of Shediac River, N.B., told As It Happens he pulled over to help after seeing all the blood gushing out of Maloney. He was on his way back to New Brunswick, but had decided to take the scenic route. He didn't know at the time it would be a life-or-death decision.

LISTEN |  Brandon Maloney and Troy Burke's interview on As It Happens

As It Happens6:36N.S. man reunites with firefighter who saved his life after a motorcycle crash

Brandon Maloney lost his leg after the crash in August. But thanks to Troy Burke, he didn't lose his life. The pair spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"I looked at Brandon and said, 'I'm going to try something here, I'm going to put my hand down your leg.' We looked at each other and I found that artery and pinched it as hard as I could," Burke said. 

"And put my other hand down his leg and found the piece of the artery that was severed and was able to hold that and I held that until he went into the helicopter."

As a volunteer firefighter, Burke said he's had training for situations like this. But he said this is the sort of situation was a first.

'Brandon is the strongest man I've ever met'

"Brandon is the strongest man I've ever met in my life," Burke said.

That was for 45 minutes. During that time, Burke said the focus was just trying to keep Maloney's spirits up.

"I remember trying to give Brandon some hope and saying, 'Medical stuff is crazy, let's not worry about the leg.' I remember him propping up and looking at me saying, 'Bro, my leg is gone. Don't let me die here.' So I just continued, tried to keep him as calm as he could," Burke said.

Maloney said he got an above-knee amputation and is waiting for a prosthetic leg so he can get back to walking. He said he wanted to get in touch with Burke to let him know he's OK, but lost his business card. So Maloney turned to social media to find him.

"I just woke up a couple of days ago wondering where this guy is and maybe it's time to find him and give him recognition. He literally saved my life," said Maloney, who is also a former fisheries manager for the Sipekne'katik First Nation in Hants County.

'We were brought together for a reason'

The two reconnected days ago and had an emotional phone call.

"It's good to let him know I'm doing alright, I pulled through, how much we appreciated it," Maloney said.

The two plan to meet up this summer for celebration.

"We were brought together for a reason," Burke said.