SPANISH FORT, Ala. — There’s one appointment Gretchen Sawyer never misses.

“I donate blood religiously because it was the kindness of other people doing the same that saved my son’s life 10 years ago,” said Sawyer, whose then 16-year-old son, Bryan, required three transfusions following a severe car wreck.

Stories like Sawyers are not uncommon, according to representatives with local blood services operations, yet donations remain well below comfortable as local residents—and travelers—head into a long holiday weekend.

Lagging donations prompted the Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross to issue an “urgent” call for assistance. (Editor's note: Please see blood drive information just below this story.)

“There is a critical need for blood donors now,” Mark Beddingfield, the region’s CEO, said. “This summer we have had a particularly difficult time recruiting enough blood donors to meet the requirements of our community's hospitals and the patients they serve.”

He said the summer’s unseasonably warm temperatures are largely responsible for keeping regular donors from making scheduled appointments.

LifeSouth Assistant Regional Manager Shelley Asmus, said area high schools and college campuses provide the most immediate opportunities for offsetting blood donation shortages, but those needs spike during travel periods such as holiday weekends.

 “Obviously, increased travel—and the increase in drunk driving among other things—affects the need for blood supplies, and the high schools in this area always step up,” Asmus said.

Although all the donation of all blood types is encouraged, type O-negative is considered the “universal donor,” meaning it can be used by patients regardless of blood type.

Sawyer said she has no way of knowing who donated the blood that saved her son’s life, but she “pays it forward” as often as health guidelines allow in the hopes she can return the favor.

“It’s such a small service with such a big reward,” she said.  

Want to donate blood? 

Come between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 11 to the Spanish Fort Fire-Rescue Department on Highway 31.

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