Community Invited to Form World’s Largest
Human Blood Drop
World Blood Donor Day to honor blood donors, recipients and supporters
(San Antonio, Texas) ─ Did you know that one unit of blood can save three lives? Lives like that of sickle cell patient Christopher Pinkerton, who uses six units of blood every four weeks to fight his disease. Samuel Clemens High School teacher Carol Elliot used two units during a debilitating back surgery. And Brackenridge High School student Angelica Estrada received multiple units during her chemotherapy treatments as she battled cancer. These San Antonio patients are just a few who have been touched by our community donors and their life-saving gift of blood donations.
In honor of these donors and in an effort to increase awareness about life-saving blood donations, the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center (STBTC) is inviting the community to help form the world’s largest blood drop for World Blood Donor Day recognized on June 14th.
Blood donors, recipients, blood drive chairpersons, healthcare organizations and the community at large are all invited to participate on Friday, June 18th, from 5pm – 6pm at Alamo Stadium on 110 Tuleta Drive. You can stand in honor of someone who has needed blood, as a donor, or just to support the effort. All participants will receive a red T-shirt to create the appearance of a gigantic, life-saving blood drop while a photographer takes the historic picture. T-shirts are available at a first-come, first-serve basis and you can register for the shirts and your place in the blood drop here. Water will be provided at event.
WBDD is also an effort to increase awareness of our summer needs. Area high schools, which are sixteen percent of our blood supply, are on summer vacation and summertime activities keep blood donation far from people’s minds. Unfortunately, the need for life-saving donations is still high during the summer with transfusions required on a daily basis. STBTC needs to collect 600 units a day for medical conditions such as trauma, surgeries, organ transplants and chemotherapy treatments. STBTC serves over 100 hospitals and clinics in 43 south Texas counties.