The Gift of Blood

In 2006, my grandfather went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a relatively routine back surgery. I don’t remember all the medical terminology, but he ended up being in the hospital for about a month and needed to receive blood transfusions. After seeing Bubba survive that ordeal thanks to people who donated their own blood to help strangers, I signed up to donate the next time the blood donation bus came to the place where I worked. I hate needles and having seen people pass out after donating, it kind of freaked me out a little, but I knew it was something I needed to do. After the first time, I realized it wasn’t so bad, and I at least attempted to donate every time the bus came. After I had donated a few times, I got my mom to join me in donating. She would come to where I worked, and we would donate together. We even donated together one time when we saw a mobile blood donation bus in the parking lot of Walmart when we were out shopping. Once I got married and moved and it wasn’t as convenient to donate (as in, the donation location didn’t come to me), I didn’t donate as often, but I still managed to find a location every now and then

In February 2012, I was in town visiting family for my birthday, and my brother-in-law, Matt, and I decided that we would both donate blood after my birthday lunch (which was in the same plaza as the donation location). While at lunch, we convinced my other brother-in-law, Chris, to join us. Matt and I had both donated blood multiple times, but this was Chris’ first (and only) time. Chris was fascinated by the whole donation process. That was one of my last memories of Chris as he died in a plane crash later that month. Even though Chris is no longer with us, someone else may still be alive today because of the gift Chris gave that day.

Last year, as most of you know, my husband was seriously injured while deployed in Afghanistan. The medic and another of the soldiers in Justin’s platoon did what they could to slow down/stop the bleeding, but Justin lost a lot of blood that day. Not only did he lose blood, but he lost 14 inches of his legs. Blood is produced by the bone marrow, and he lost 28 inches (14 per leg) of blood producing bone marrow from the longest bones in his body. This means his body’s ability to make up for what was lost was hampered considerably. Over the first month post-injury, Justin received more units of blood than I can remember. For at least the first two weeks, they gave him more blood every time he had a surgical procedure. He likely would not have survived without the blood transfusions – without the people who chose to donate blood to help others.

I realize that not everyone can donate due to medical reasons, restrictions due to countries that have visited or lived in, or various other reasons. But for those who are able, please consider visiting your local blood donation center and giving the gift of life. Each donation is equal to 3 units of blood, so potentially, your gift could save up to three lives, and since you can donate up to 24 times a year (every 8 weeks), that could be up to 72 lives every year! Blood is needed for trauma victims, injured service members, cancer patients, premature babies, and many other medical issues.

Donating blood is a very important cause for me since people that I love are alive today because of it. The ALS ice bucket challenge has gone viral and has brought in a lot of visibility and financial support for ALS research. Justin’s birthday is coming up this month, and in honor of it, I would like to challenge you, my friends and anyone else reading this, to donate blood. Donating blood takes a lot more effort than dumping a bucket of water on your head or donating money. It takes time, and can leave you feeling a little out of it afterwards. You have to be smart about it and make sure you are eating and hydrating properly both before and after the donation. But, there is no substitute for blood when it comes to saving lives, and ambulances, emergency rooms, and operating rooms all over the country need help to keep supplied. They need blood of all types, particularly O- which is the universal donor. Whether you can donate or not, please share this and get the word out to donate, and please, please consider donating – even if it’s just once, it can still save lives!

If you are in Florida, visit http://www.oneblood.org/ to find a blood donation location near you.

If you are in the military, visit http://www.militaryblood.dod.mil/default.aspx for the Armed Service Blood Program information and location.

If you are in other states, I would suggest contacting your local Red Cross and they can probably point you in the right direction.