A Coeur d’Alene man whose life hung in the balance after a severe stabbing last year gathered with the emergency responders and physicians who saved him, thanking them for their swift action and skilled medical intervention. Dana Farnes, 56, was stabbed multiple times on July 3, 2025, while attempting to break up a knife fight at a group home for adults with special needs where he worked twice weekly. The incident left him with critical injuries to his torso, arm, stomach, liver, and kidney—damage that would require extraordinary medical efforts to survive.
A Life-Threatening Emergency in Kootenai County
On the morning of the stabbing, Coeur d’Alene Fire and Kootenai County emergency responders arrived quickly at the scene. Police officers applied emergency dressings and tourniquets to control bleeding while paramedics prepared Farnes for transport. The severity of his wounds demanded immediate specialized care unavailable locally. Farnes was life-flighted to Seattle, where he was admitted to Harborview Medical Center, one of the region’s leading trauma facilities.
The injuries were catastrophic. Farnes lost his spleen due to the stabbing and sustained damage to his pancreas. His liver and kidney were wounded. He developed a hernia as a result of the trauma and later suffered multiple blood clots and sepsis—life-threatening complications that could easily have proven fatal. Over 100 units of blood were transfused into Farnes as medical teams worked to keep him alive through the critical early hours.
From Emergency Care to Recovery
Lauren Apgar, an emergency medicine physician at Kootenai Health, was among the first to treat Farnes after his arrival. She recalled the gravity of his condition: “When he came in, he was very difficult to stabilize. He was just so, so sick.” Despite the overwhelming nature of his injuries, Apgar and her team at Kootenai Health worked in coordination with the trauma surgeons in Seattle to guide Farnes through the initial crisis.
Nearly a year after the stabbing, Farnes organized a public thank-you event at Kootenai Health on a Wednesday morning in July 2026, bringing together the emergency responders, paramedics, and physicians who contributed to his survival. The gathering reflected his gratitude and provided closure for a medical team that had invested tremendous skill and emotion in his case.
For Apgar, the encounter held profound meaning. “I’m completely shocked,” she said of Farnes’ recovery and gratitude. “This is probably the most meaningful thing that has happened in my career.”
Life Beyond the Stabbing
Farnes, who is from Walla Walla, Washington, operates an IT network company and lives with his wife Angela on a farm just outside Plummer in Kootenai County. Beyond his professional work, he has dedicated himself to serving vulnerable populations—volunteering at a local soup kitchen and working with at-risk adults. John Solomon, his pastor at LifeSource Community Church in Coeur d’Alene, has witnessed Farnes’ commitment to community service firsthand.
The giant scar running across his forearm serves as a permanent reminder of the July day when his decision to intervene in a violent conflict nearly cost him his life. Yet Farnes has chosen to use that experience to honor those who saved him rather than dwell on the trauma itself.
The Value of Rapid Response
Farnes’ survival underscores the critical importance of quick action by first responders and access to advanced trauma care. Morgan Zajicek of Coeur d’Alene Fire was among those on scene, and officers from the Coeur d’Alene Police Department applied life-saving techniques before transport. The coordination between local emergency services and Harborview Medical Center’s trauma specialists created a chain of survival that bridged the gap between a life-threatening wound and recovery.
The thank-you event at Kootenai Health served as a rare opportunity for emergency and trauma professionals to witness the full outcome of their work—not as statistics or case files, but as a living, grateful person standing before them. For many in the medical field, such moments of direct connection with those they save are infrequent and deeply meaningful.