Blood Drive in Memory of Jordan

Passion is often ignited by an encounter or an experience with a personal, life altering event. We had never heard of CDH until June 1, 2011. Now, it has forever changed our lives. There is no known cause for it. There is no known cure for it. There is little research for it. There is little awareness about it. Yet, about 1 in every 2,500 infants are diagnosed with it. Of those diagnosed, 50% do not survive. Breath of Hope Inc., an organization created to bring more awareness to CDH, has proclaimed March 31st to be CDH Awareness Day.

In the spirit of bringing awareness to the community of Hays, yet realizing not everyone will have a passion for nor an encounter with CDH in their lifetime, we have decided to host a Center Blood Drive in memory of Jordan. Every two seconds, someone needs a blood transfusion - a victim of CDH or not. But, only a fraction of the population actually donates blood. Giving blood saves lives. One person donating blood can save up to three people. We never understood ourselves the importance of donating blood nor the significant role that the Red Cross plays in facilitating the provision of blood to those who need it until Jordan’s life hung in the balance. The twenty-six days that Jordan was on ECMO, he was given multiple blood transfusions daily. Without blood donors, our 34 days with him would have been drastically shorter. The need for blood is great; the children’s hospital where Jordan lived his 34 days ran out of blood and the Red Cross had to make a special delivery. Please join us in a blood drive to help promote CDH awareness and to aid those in need of blood. For your convenience, appointments can be made in advance by calling (785) 625-2617.

If you don’t live in the Hays area, you can participate by visiting your local Red Cross and give blood in honor of CDH Awareness, Jordan, or a friend or family member who needed blood in the past or who will need it in the future. If you plan on giving blood and this is your first time to donate, please visit the following link concerning facts about blood donation, increasing your iron count when you donate blood and blood donation eligibility questions (click here to visit the Red Cross). If you have any more questions about donating blood after reading the information from their site, please call the Red Cross directly at 1-866-236-3276.

Below are some interesting facts from the American Red Cross:

• On any given day, 38,000 units of red blood cells are needed for hospital patients in the United States.
• One in every 10 people entering a hospital will need blood.
• Approximately 38% of the population is eligible to donate blood. Of those eligible to donate blood, only a small fraction have actually given blood.
• In the U.S., someone needs a blood transfusion about every two seconds.
• The average adult body contains 10-12 pints of blood. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his/her body.
• There are about one billion red blood cells in two or three drops of blood.
• Red blood cells must be transfused within 42 days.
• There is no substitute for human blood. It cannot be manufactured.
• Almost everyone will know someone who needs blood.
• Blood is often needed for traumas, heart surgeries, joint replacements, organ transplants, premature babies, leukemia and cancer treatments, and much more.
• People in car accidents who suffer massive blood loss may require transfusions of more than 50 pints of red blood cells.

If you would like to give monetary donations to the Red Cross or organizations that promote CDH, please visit the following websites:
-http://www.redcross.org
-http://www.cdhsupport.org/
-http://breathofhopeinc.com/
-http://globalcdh.org