“Act as if
what you do makes a difference.
It does.” -William James
On May
5, 1979, my grandfather James Flanigan was flying his crop duster when he unexpectedly
crash landed in a field in Clay County, Arkansas. His plane instantly burst into flames. Witnesses reported seeing something fall from
the plane, but the cause of the crash was never determined. My grandfather survived the initial impact
and was immediately taken to the Piggott Hospital ten minutes away. He was then transfered to the Methodist Hospital
in Memphis, Tennessee. He suffered
severe burns on his arms and face and had a broken jaw. There, my grandfather received more
than 165 units of blood in an attempt to save his life. He passed away from an infection just weeks
later on June 8th, leaving behind his wife, son and three daughters.
My grandfather, James Flanigan, in 1970
I had
never heard the details of that story until I was an adult and my younger brother
Jim (James actually…named for my father & grandfather) was working on a
persuasive speech for his college public speaking class. While researching the project, my mom told us
about how our grandfather had needed blood transfusions. Jim used my grandfather’s story to get his
classmates to donate blood.
As a
television reporter, I covered tons of blood drives! But I never had the courage to donate until I
felt the need to impress my future husband.
(Brett’s desk was right next to mine in the KAIT newsroom so we became
quick pals once we were forced to share a computer.) He had been donating blood since high school
and talked me into doing it for the first time when a blood drive came to the station. Even though I was leery of needles, it turned
out fine. The workers made you feel like
a hero for volunteering and then you got to eat all the Little Debbie snack
cakes you wanted afterwards! Being a poor
member of the press, I’ll admit there was more than one occasion where free Sonic
burgers or Chic-Fil-A sandwiches were all the motivation I needed to roll up
the sleeve. It was almost better than those samples at
Sam’s!
According
to the American Red Cross, there are more than 16 million blood donations every
year! Sounds like a ton right? It is, but it’s very likely the same folks
giving over and over again. Around 38%
of Americans are eligible to donate blood, but less than 8% actually do. Translation:
only 3 out of 100 people who can, will donate blood.
Brett
and I donate as often as we can. This
weekend I did a double red cell donation for the first time. A special machine allowed me to donate two
units of red blood cells while returning my plasma and platelets back to
me. You have to meet certain height,
weight and blood requirements to qualify and the process takes a little longer
than a regular donation. We figure any Yankees that get our blood will probably want to eat fried chicken or grits right off the bat. Gotta sneak in the South where you can, right?
If you
decide to donate, you should do it for your own reasons. At first, I was just trying to impress a guy,
then I realized there were 165+ people who cared enough to donate blood that
helped my grandfather when he needed it.
I know it’s unlikely that I will ever be able to donate that much blood back, but also I think
it’s not a bad way to put some good karma back out there (plus I just realized
that I’ve been accidently parking in the handicap spot at the Clifton Park Post
Office the other day…in my defense, it’s not very well marked!). With every donation I make, I know I’m
helping at least three people.
scored free Subway sandwiches and fresh home baked bread! Yum!