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Dan Barreiro
woke up last October with what he thought was the stomach flu.
After battling symptoms for several weeks, Dan went to the
emergency room with extreme abdominal pain. It was discovered
that Dan was anemic and had a low blood count. He was
immediately given blood. After further examinations, doctors
also diagnosed him with colon cancer. Dan began chemotherapy
treatments and after 6 months, he received good news. He was
cancer free. “My surgery would not have been successful without
the generosity of blood donors. By becoming a donor myself, I
hope I will be able to help someone else as I was helped.”
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Abigail
"Abby" Bartel was diagnosed with a hepatoblastoma at the age of
18 months. Hepatoblastoma is a rare form of liver cancer. Abby
had to undergo a total of six rounds of chemotherapy treatments.
She had a liver resection surgery where two-thirds of her liver
was removed. In November 2003, Abby was declared cancer-free.
Unfortunately, 4 months after her liver surgery, a complication
from the surgery was found. Abby then needed a bile duct
reconstruction surgery and received numerous blood transfusions
throughout her chemotherapy and surgeries. Currently, Abby
remains in remission. “Our family is very thankful to all the
blood donors,” says Cara Bartel, Abby’s mother. “Your precious
donation of blood is so very important to the survival of cancer
patients of all ages.”
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At age 10, Yvonne Benson experienced a life-altering event. Her
father Stephen, a life-long blood donor, took her to a party
given by one of the recipients of his blood. The recipient just
wanted to thank the many blood donors who helped him through his
health crisis. This event had a profound effect on Yvonne. She
committed herself to follow in her father’s footsteps and become
a blood donor herself. Although she had to wait until she was 16
and could pass the weight minimum of 110 pounds, from that time
forward she has donated blood as often as possible. Yvonne’s
father Stephen said, “Both my daughters, Yvonne and Rachel, and
my wife love to donate at Heartland Blood Centers because of the
people that work there. These workers are really caregivers
because they have always been more than just people who draw my
blood. It makes all the difference to donate with an
organization that cares for its donors, like Heartland.”
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Zachary
Kargol has been a fighter all of his short life. At the age of
two, he was diagnosed with Evans Syndrome, a rare autoimmune
blood disorder in which his body attacks his own red blood
cells, white blood cells and platelets. In 2003, Zack began
suffering grand mal seizures as a side effect from the
combinations of medications. Transfusions of blood products were
necessary to help stabilize Zack. Recently Zack was taken off
all medications and his condition continues to improve. “It’s a
joy to celebrate the simple things that make him and us happy,
said Marie, Zack’s Mom. Zack’s parents are planning their next
blood drive to include Heartland’s mobilecoach parked at their
home so that friends and neighbors can easily “stop-by” and give
blood for Zack and others like him.
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Lanise Kelly is a 35 year old African American woman with Sickle
Cell Anemia. Managing her disease, which is characterized by
abnormally shaped red cells, has necessitated numerous blood
transfusions for her. Over the years, her body has developed its
own defense mechanism to the treatments, so the blood she
receives must be tested, matched and washed before she can
safely receive it. Lanise asks all healthy people to consider
giving blood. “Blood donations make such a difference to people
like me.”
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Morgan and
Madison Kesteloot were born 15 weeks premature and were very
sick. They spent their first four months in the hospital where
they received frequent blood transfusions until their tiny
bodies could make enough blood cells on their own. Now they are
more than a year old, and their mother, Michelle – herself a
frequent donor – knows how important blood donation is. “Morgan
and Madison are a blessing to us and without all the blood
transfusions, I don’t know where they’d be right now.”
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Elizabeth "Zöe" Koz was born at Edward Hospital & Health
Services in Naperville, Illinois, on January 6, 2004 weighing
only 305 grams or 10.8 oz. Her birth was truly a miracle as she
is the ninth smallest surviving baby in the world. Due to her
extremely small size, she needed continuous monitoring and care,
including many transfusions. Zöe’s grandmother, Ellen Maniowski,
age 52, found that her blood would be compatible with her new
grandchild and without hesitation volunteered to donate. Today,
Zöe’s doctors say that she has no mental or physical defects and
will catch up to her peers in size by the age of two. “Zöe is
really a miracle and I am convinced that it was through the
blood supplied by Heartland Blood Centers, the excellent care at
Edward Hospital and God watching out for us, that she is with us
today. Thank you Heartland for helping keep this miracle alive,”
said Ellen.
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Until April
2003 when Jose Ortiz was diagnosed with osteosarcoma he was just
a typical teenager enjoying his family and friends. Jose’s
doctors advised him to have chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and
then surgery to remove it. In May of 2003, Jose started
chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy did not shrink the
tumor; the tumor was still growing. Jose was left with few
choices to preserve his health so on June 18, 2003 he had his
left leg amputated. “The chemotherapy caused my blood counts to
be so low I required blood transfusions”, said Jose. “I am so
grateful to those people who donated blood for me because
without it I would not have been able to fight off infection.
Quite simply, without their donation, I would not be here
today.” Currently a student at Aurora East High School, Jose’s
courage has been inspirational to all those he comes in contact
with. Heartland Blood Centers works with over 150 high schools
every year to sponsor blood drives on behalf of patients in
their own communities, like Jose.
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Rev. Valtierra calls his good health a blessing, and understands
that by donating blood, he is giving a little bit of himself to
help ease others’ suffering. As Pastor of Saint Francis Xavier
Church, he is acting as a role model for his parishioners, whom
he encourages to get involved in donating blood. Father Tony
believes that we should reach out and help one another whenever
and however we can – including sharing the gift of good health.
“Donating blood helps in the most important way -- it saves a
life.”
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On August 9th
1992, Kimberly Walczak was crossing a street in Cleveland Ohio,
when a car speeding through a red light hit her. She was thrown
20 feet and suffered extensive external and internal injuries.
Having a rare B- blood type (only 2% of the population has B
negative blood type), Kimberly was lucky there was enough of her
type readily available to treat her at the local hospital. After
spending 3 months in the hospital and over a year in rehab, she
has made a complete recovery and credits blood donors for saving
her life. Little did Kim know that one day she would be working
for a blood center. For the past 4 years, Kim has been a
Marketing Representative for Heartland Blood Centers responsible
for recruiting blood donors in Dupage County. She and her
husband Hank are preparing for the birth of their first child.
“I always try to educate and inform people on the need for blood
donations because you never know when you or a family/friend
will need this lifesaving resource,” said Kim. “I’m living proof
of that.”
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For many years Jim Wenberg was an active blood donor helping
many patients with his “gift of life”. But on February 12 of
2004, roles were reversed. He vividly remembers awaking that
morning gasping for breath and covered with blood. Jim was
rushed to Provena Mercy Hospital in Aurora, where it was
determined that a duodenal ulcer had perforated through an
artery causing him to lose blood rapidly. Thankfully, the expert
surgical team at Mercy were able to stop the internal bleeding,
but not before Jim was given 10 units of blood and 4 units of
plasma. Jim said, “My family is eternally grateful to Heartland
Blood Centers and the blood donations that literally brought me
back to life.”
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David
Wittrock of Elgin, Illinois, received a much-needed liver
transplant on August 11, 2002, after the effects of Hepatitis C
ravaged his liver. David was on a transplant list for almost 2
years. The timing of transplantation was crucial, as David had
developed liver cancer and was scheduled to start chemotherapy
on August 16, which would have removed his eligibility to stay
on the waiting list. This was only the first in a series of
events that had brought David, age 54, literally back to life.
“Every day is a gift and I’m just so grateful to the donors who
provided me with the 14 pints of blood I needed during my
transplant surgery. My family and friends join me each August
for a donor picnic and Heartland blood drive. It is a small yet
important way to for me to try to give something back to the
many individuals who have helped me to live,” said David.
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If you have a story you would like to share, please contact
our community relations representatives: Sheryl Dickerson
shdicker@utmb.edu or Robert Runkle
rwrunkle@utmb.edu.
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