One southwest resident has an entire community behind him while he battles medical complications out of province. 

Dana Mehler was airlifted from Swift Current by a STARS air ambulance at the end of January to the Calgary ICU, due to concerns related to a double lung transplant he underwent back in 2017.  

According to social media posts by Pamela Becker, organizer of the GoFundMe for Mehler, his transplant team has been caring for him over the past several weeks. 

“Dana had a double lung transplant in 2017 and has been there battling an infection and being treated for rejection,” she wrote on Tuesday evening. “Dana would drop everything for anyone and help them whenever they need it, and I know your support will mean the world to him.”

Another local resident who has stepped up to help cover the costs of inter-provincial travel for his medical care is Kaitlin Fehr. 

She recently set up a recycling drive through SARCAN in Swift Current, which allows anyone dropping off items to use the phrase ‘For Dana,’ and all funds will go directly to his account.

“This stressful and emotional situation that they're going through right now requires a village in order to help,” Fehr said. “We should be helping our community members as much as we can. Dana is the kind of person that if anybody else were in this situation, would be doing the exact same thing, if not more.” 

The Swift Current Broncos have also donated a signed jersey to auction off, and a fundraiser dinner with entertainment will be held at Boston Pizza on Wednesday, March 20th. 

An update made yesterday to GoFundMe stated that Dana is currently awake but will have a long road ahead of him to recovery.