Brian May remembers having a headache that wouldn’t go away. He assumed it was something minor, but it persisted for several days. He finally went to the emergency department at Mercy Health — St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. What doctors discovered showed just how much your gift to upgrade MRI imaging was worth.

“It’s a good thing I went in,” says Brian. “Another 12 or 16 hours and I probably would have died.”

Brian had a brain aneurysm that was beginning to rupture. Doctors rushed him into emergency surgery. Neurosurgeons performed a delicate procedure that prevented a catastrophic bleed. Brian spent several days in the stroke ICU. His follow-up imaging showed that everything went exactly as planned.

“The second MRI showed that what they did worked about as well as it possibly could,” Brian says.

For Brian, who lives in a small rural community outside of Youngstown, having access to advanced technology likely saved his life. Without the upgraded MRI at St. Elizabeth’s, which you made possible, he would have faced a much longer trip to Pittsburgh or Cleveland. All while experiencing a life-threatening medical emergency.

“I didn’t make it through eight years in the military and multiple tours of duty just to come home and get taken out by what is basically a pimple on an artery,” he says.”

Today, Brian is deeply grateful for the donors who made the upgraded MRI technology possible.

“People who donate to hospitals should know it’s more than just a tax write-off,” he says. “You’re saving people’s lives.”