As many of us know this past Thursday through Saturday, Hurricane Helene tore through the southeast United States. As of the morning of October 1, at least 130 have been found dead and thousands more are injured. Most of us can only watch and pray for the victims and their families that the volunteers and first responders get to those who are trapped and injured as quickly as possible. However, this is not all we can do. This November is the blood drive at St. X: a chance for us to give life to those who are injured from the hurricane or who need regular blood donations.
St. X. holds a blood drive every year. Every day, blood donors help patients of all ages. This includes patients who are burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those battling cancer. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.
Here are two stories of donors for the American Red Cross:
The first is from a woman named Tria who lives in Northeastern Pennsylvania. “Mine is a story of gratitude. Four years ago, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. During my chemo treatments, I needed several blood transfusions as well as platelets – 8 transfusions in total. I volunteer as a Blood Ambassador now so that I can thank donors in person for saving my life and for saving the lives of other strangers. I am cancer-free but would not have survived without those precious gifts of blood.”
The second story is from a woman named Kelly who lives in Ann Arbor Michigan. “In 2016, I became gravely ill with a life-threatening pregnancy complication. I lost roughly 40 percent of my blood volume. I received many units of red blood cells as well as plasma. Without a doubt, I survived because of the generous blood donations of others. I’ll never know whose blood I received but I am so incredibly grateful to them for saving my life. To anyone on the fence about donating blood, know that it makes a difference. This is why I donate.”
Without our donations, lifesaving medical treatments for patients with cancer, chronic illnesses, and other conditions would be at risk. We must use our abundance of blood to give to those that we cannot help otherwise.
Anyone 16 and over can donate. If you are 16, you need to bring a parent consent form when you donate on November 26. The consent forms can be found in the campus ministry office. Students 17 and older can donate without a consent form. With this, I strongly encourage every student who is eligible to sign up for blood donations.
DONATE! DONATE! DONATE!
