GOOD NEWS: Providing the gift of life

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Many good hearted people have the desire to help good causes, but may not have the means to give financially.

There happens to be a very worthwhile way to make life saving donations, and it doesn’t cost a thing.

The availability of blood may be more crucial need than most people realize.

“It’s the most prescribed like pharmaceutical in the hospital, a vast supply of blood is needed to simply meet the day to day needs of patients in our hospitals,” said Brad Duggan, executive director of Coffee Memorial Blood Center.

A vast supply of blood is needed to simply meet the day-to-day needs of patients at our hospitals.

“If you have a surgery and you develop a bleed, you know, it’s there to help you get through that bleed. If you’re in a car accident and you lose a lot of blood, you know that product is going to be there. If you’re a cancer patient. You know, it may give you energy, like you haven’t had in days,” Duggan said.

The underlying issue with blood is that it can not be manufactured or man made, it must come from people willing to donate. So when supply gets low, concerns begin to grow.

“We had a really low donor rate in May. In April, we had a blood appeal. We brought that inventory back up and then in May that was kind of down in donations. And so our inventory is starting to look a little concerning,” Duggan said.

People who have themselves or have had family members survive traumas with massive blood requirements certainly realize the critical need for blood. Joy Ferguson’s son was involved in a serious accident.

“He actually received 36 units of blood. He had massive internal bleeding, his lungs were punctured. I don’t think he would have made it without the blood. So it’s been a lot of long road to recovery. But those units were greatly needed,” said Ferguson, mother of a blood recipient.

Some people may not realize what that means.

“That means 36 people came in and donated blood and it had to be his blood type too, so we had to collect a lot of that blood type just to save his life,” Duggan said.

Ruben Flores’s daughter came very near death from a car accident.

“She broke her spine, broke her scapula, broke her nose, crushed her kidney, crushed her spleen. She died four times. Luckily we had the blood center, and she got 40 units of blood,” said Flores, whose daughter required massive amount of blood.

Blood not only saves lives, but can greatly improve the quality of life for some.

“And there was a nine-year-old cancer patient that shot a video and said ‘thank you for the blood. I have energy like I haven’t had in days,’” Duggan said.

Ferguson said this is why donating blood is important.

“It’s so important that people come out and donate to keep our inventory up. There’s so many mass situations happening on a daily basis. I mean, you just never know when a crisis is going to happen,” Ferguson said.

Flores also said it has inspired her.

“So that’s inspired me to give back and and donate because you never know when it can be you,” Flores said.

Duggan explained how it saves lives.

“That’s why we do what we do, it changes lives every day. It saves lives every day, and it makes people feel better,” Duggan said.

But today can easily come that any of us need to be the recipient of blood, and Coffee Memorial Blood Center is going to make sure that that blood is available for you.

That’s some good news.

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