Family Marks Survival Anniversary With Blood Drive
Family Marks Survival Anniversary With Blood Drive
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Jackie Gorski-
Family Marks Survival Anniversary With Blood DriveWarsaw resident Courtney Sale and her family celebrated the first anniversary of brother Josh Parker’s survival of a motorcycle accident by partnering with the American Red Cross to hold a private blood drive at her home Saturday.
Parker said he was hit on his motorcycle by a drunk driver in June 2020. He said he still has issues from the accident, including some nerve damage in one of his arms and scars. Despite the issues, Sale said Parker’s attitude, the majority of the time, is great. Parker said the person who hit him has not been tried yet.
He was in the hospital for eight days. Sale said while in the hospital, Parker received four units of blood, which is the maximum amount of blood a person can have in one shot.
“Thankfully, though, he’s still here. Today is about focusing on his survival. We are so grateful he’s alive and feel blessed that we can do this blood drive,” Sale said.
She also said her family is grateful for the people that donated blood prior to Parker’s accident, as well as for the people “on the scene that acted do quickly. We are grateful for the medical staff that have gotten him this far. We are grateful for those supporting the cause today.”
When asked why the blood drive was put on, Sale said it started with her donating back the units her brother received in the hospital. Once she accomplished that, she had the idea of getting others to donate as well. She looked up hosting a drive and found out they could do a private drive, so she began the process of setting it up for the one-year anniversary of Parker’s accident.
Sale said she believed Red Cross needed eight weeks in order to put the private blood drive together and they started the process in February. Red Cross then came out to the site where the drive was being held to assess it and determine if it was all right. Red Cross provided promotional information to Sale and her family and provided text message and Facebook promotions, so they would just have to upload the information and share it.
Sale said during Saturday’s blood drive, they had 76 people signed up to give blood. They also took walk-ins. Sale said people were donating 1 pint of full blood each, with some people being able to give up to 2 pints. The blood went directly to Red Cross. Red Cross tests blood for things such as diseases and blood type. Sale said the people that were signed up before the event were all people they knew. Some people came from the Allen County area and Georgia.
Sale said there is a shortage of blood Red Cross has – only a day’s worth – and the hope was for Red Cross to be able to stock up on blood and be able to use the blood on people who need it, “just like what happened with Josh, where he had saved because someone else had donated just before his accident,” Sale said.
According to Red Cross’ website, a rise in the number of trauma cases, organ transplants and elective surgeries requiring blood products over recent months has depleted the nation’s blood inventory, causing the American Red Cross to appeal to Americans for immediate action to give blood. Right now, hospitals are responding to an atypically high number of traumas and emergency room visits. In comparison to 2019, the Red Cross has seen red cell demand from hospitals with trauma centers climb by 10% in 2021 – more than five times the growth of other facilities that provide transfusions. Twenty to 40% of trauma deaths that occur after hospital admission involve massive hemorrhaging. In these circumstances, doctors may need hundreds of blood products, depending on the severity of the trauma, to help save a life.
With less than half a day supply available of type O blood in recent weeks, there is an emergency need for type O donors. Type O is the most needed blood group by hospitals. Type O positive is the most transfused blood type and can be transfused to Rh-positive patients of any blood type. Type O negative is the universal blood type and what emergency room personnel reach for when there is no time to determine the blood type of patients in the most serious situations.
There is also an emergency need for platelets, the clotting portion of blood, which must be transfused within five days of donation. Nearly half of all platelet donations are given to patients undergoing cancer treatments – a disease all too familiar to millions of Americans and their families. Blood is perishable and cannot be stockpiled, according to the Red Cross website.
Those interested in donating blood in honor of Parker can do so by joining the Parker Pack team through the Red Cross website.
Local blood drives that are open to the public are:
• July 8, noon to 6 p.m., Center Lake Pavilion.
• July 9, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Kosciusko Community Hospital.
• July 10, 11 am. to 4 p.m., Walmart, Warsaw.
• July 13, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Center Lake Pavilion.
• July 21, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Center Lake Pavilion.
