At the American Red Cross, I have the incredible privilege to see the very best of humanity. Each day, the Red Cross answers the call for help when a home fire devastates a family, a military member returns home for an emergency involving a loved one, a bystander saves a person in cardiac arrest, a vaccine protects a young child in a developing country, or a hospital needs blood for a sickle cell patient.
We cannot always know when or where the next emergency need will arise. Yet, amid uncertainty and heartache, we witness acts of heroism, kindness and compassion every day. Such an act may be seemingly small or insignificant, but to that person in need, it can make a lifesaving difference.
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion. Blood and platelets are needed for accident and burn victims, heart surgery patients, organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease. On average, the Red Cross must collect 14,000 blood donations every day for patients at about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country.
And every day, someone like you can help a patient who needs that lifesaving gift.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, a man sits in a chair at a Red Cross donation center, gives up an hour of his day and a pint of his blood to help someone he will likely never meet. He pays it forward because someone somewhere has helped to keep his little girl alive and well. Her name is Taytiana, affectionately called "TT."
"To see her smile, I would do anything," said TT's mom, Adrian Wilder.
These words resound in my head. As a parent, it is the most heart-wrenching experience to watch your child in pain and not be able to ease their suffering. Our first and most important priority is to care and protect our child. But sometimes that care can only come from the generosity of strangers.
You can help.
The Red Cross has issued an emergency request for eligible blood and platelet donors of all blood types to roll up a sleeve now and help save lives. At times, blood donations are being distributed to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. We need your help now so that a child like TT doesn't have to wait.
"I didn't realize the magnitude of it until I started donating, but it is helping another child, another adult. It's helping human life," said Marques Wilder, the father of TT.
Together, we can all do our part to provide an adequate blood supply for those in need. Through our national inventory, the Red Cross helps ensure that blood is available wherever and whenever it is needed whether at a local hospital or one thousands of miles away.
We urge eligible donors to make an appointment today by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
And together, we can carry forward that shared humanitarian spirit by helping one another, one blood donation at a time, in the face of hurt and hardship.
