SPECIAL REPORT: The Need for Blood Donations
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - There are four main blood groups. A, B, AB and O. Like eye color, your blood type is determined by your parents. But regardless of which type you are - they are all capable of life-saving work.
"Tragedy strikes at a moment's notice. My mom, dad, brother all woke up that morning not thinking they would need blood that day," Sue Thew said, who is the Arizona Communications Manager for Vitalant.
Vitalant is the sole supplier of blood in Yuma. Her involvement is personal. "My mom fell and hit her head. She had a brain bleed. They gave her four plasma transfusions," Thew said.
In fact one blood donation can save up to three lives. "It's not uncommon for an accident victim to use 200 components of blood," she said.
Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood so it's critical we have an ample supply. However, the pandemic led to a major decrease in donations.
A Yuma dad, Eric Gaines says blood donations saved his daughter's life. At just four, Zoiey was excessively tired, bruising easily and complaining of growing pains. Ultimately a blood test revealed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. It's a blood cancer that also affects the bone marrow.
For two years, she underwent chemotherapy once a week and had around 15 blood transfusions. Happy to report that little girl is now almost 13 and in December - she'll be seven years in remission.
The donation itself takes about an hour. There you'll find out which blood type you are, literally become a life saving hero and get a free snack. Some places are even testing for COVID-19 antibodies, meaning you could learn whether or not you ever had the virus, and didn't even know it.
Vitalant holds blood drives in Yuma once a month. Here are the next soonest dates:
Monday, March 21, 10am-2pm, Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W Desert Hills Dr
Tuesday, March 22, 10am-2pm, Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W Desert Hills Dr
Tuesday, March 29, 1pm-5pm, Yuma Regional Medical Center, 2400 S Ave A
Wednesday, March 30, 9am-1pm, Yuma Regional Medical Center, 2400 S Ave A
You can also make an appointment on www.vitalant.org or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825)
To schedule an appointment in Imperial Valley, call 800-879-4484 or download the LifeStream mobile app
Also, gay men have not been able to freely donate, but Vitalant is working alongside the Food and Drug Administration to change that so that more lives can be saved.
