April 3, 2022, marked the arrival of my first grandchild, Jonathan Henry Lockstedt. His birth was perfect, having arrived via c-section. Momma, on the other hand, had a different story. My daughter Kristine has a Familia condition of low platelets she inherited from her mom’s side of the family. She only carries 70,000 platelets at any given time, when the national average is 150k to 450k. The condition becomes worse during pregnancy. Kristine dropped all the way down to 19,000 platelets just before birth. Even via infusion of platelets, the doctors were only able to get her up to 31,000. For major surgery, which a c-section is considered, you are supposed to have 50,000. They had to move forward with the procedure, as baby “Henry” was starting to come naturally. The c-section went fine, however an hour after birth, Kristine began to hemorrhage

She lost 3 liters of blood, which is half the body’s blood supply, in the space of 15 to 20 minutes. Had the hospital not recently been certified for the MIP (Massive Infusion Protocol), Kristine would not have survived, according to the nurses attending.

The possible scenarios race through the mind. What if there had been a low supply of blood, not the correct type of blood, too many other urgent needs at that moment with a low supply of blood and they had to decide. Do we save one life, or multiple lives? Fortunately, they didn’t have to make that decision.

We don’t see these scenarios from our chair at home, we only hear about them after the fact. The bottom line is simple, if the blood isn’t there, the lives, or the life, can’t be saved. We have an opportunity to save a life, not because we are medically trained, but because we took the time to make the donation. You will never know who you helped; all you’ll know is you did so. In the end, isn’t that enough? For the person you helped, maybe even saved, as those who donated did for my daughter, my grandson’s mother. Yes, I’d say that’s enough. I’m finally healthy enough to donate again. I’d love to see you next to me as I give. So, I’m going to look for you January 27th. Let’s do this together. May God Bless you for doing so.

ACTION ITEM:  If you are one of the 2 out of 3 people that can NOT give, then please share this story with a friend, coworker or family member who can, and encourage them to donate.  If you can donate, click here to schedule your appointment.  If the good feeling of donating isn’t enough, we’ll give your free snacks afterward plus – and this is a popular one – a coupon for free pint of Gate City’s beer.  Pint for a pint.  Get it?  Now help us get another donor appointment booked.

For more information, contact Jonathan Crooks (jonathancrooks@bellsouth.net); Darrell Bartlett (Darrell.Bartlett@allegion.com) or Hal Schlenger (hschlenger@greatsouthbenefits.com)