You can help save lives by taking part in the latest St. Mary’s Day of Life on Friday, Oct. 2, at the Red Cross, 250 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk. Please join St. Mary’s staff and teachers, as well as families of St. Mary’s residents, as they donate platelets. Cancer and organ transplant patients need platelet transfusions to help their blood clot, preventing massive blood loss.
“I’ve given platelets several times now, for the simple reason that many people give blood: it’s important to those who need it,” said Mary Helen Hilton, St. Mary’s director of annual giving. “This time, I go with a new awareness and special reason. Some good friends of our family received news just after July 4th that no one wants to hear: their 5-year-old son was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. … He depends on platelets for his life.”
Contact Soozi McLain, head of St. Mary’s physical therapy department, at (757) 622-2208 ext. 346 or smclain@smhdc.org to find out more about St. Mary’s Day of Life. That’s Soozi above, demonstrating how easy it is to donate platelets during a previous St. Mary’s Day of Life (photo by Kathy Brobst, physical therapist assistant). Only one arm is used for platelet donation, and you can bring a DVD to watch on your own private TV.
St. Mary’s physical therapy department coordinates platelet donation about every three months. The department already has succeeded in filling eight spots together in the morning on Oct. 2, but you can sign up for any time during the entire day. For more information about donating platelets, see this Red Cross website.