American National Red Cross > Missouri Illinois Blood Services Region > Give Blood

Like many second-graders-to-be Hannah Brumley is enjoying the summer, swimming and being with friends. But that could change overnight. Diagnosed in January with ALL leukemia, Hannah had been in the hospital five times before the Fourth of July holiday – each trip lasting a week to 14 days. Sometimes she needed whole blood; sometimes platelets. The good news is her type of leukemia has an 80 percent chance of remission. But her treatment is a three-year process. In February, Brumley’s Granite City elementary school hosted an American Red Cross blood drive in her honor. Nearly 170 people showed up to donate, with 108 units of whole blood being collected. A second drive is planned this summer. Her grandmother notes that no one else in the family has ever needed a blood transfusion.

Luke Weaver, 18, will enter Quincy University this fall to major in biology, a prerequisite to entering pre-med. A National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society) member, he posted a 4.39 grade average to finish in the top six percent of his Belleville East High School graduating class. His interest in medicine, with a goal of becoming a pediatric oncologist in hematology, comes from personal experience and in gratitude for the way he has been treated. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in June 2005, Luke developed hip and knee problems, requiring hip surgery. He later underwent emergency intestinal surgery, which brought a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s B cell lymphoma. His treatment causes him to be in and out of the hospital weekly, sometimes daily. Luke has had numerous blood transfusions.

Mackenzie Johnson of Elsberry, Mo., has been diagnosed to have a rare type blood disease that will from time to time require that she have periodic transfusions to live a normal life. Passed down in genes perhaps from grandparents or further back, Mackenzie has sickle cell anemia – a blood disease that 90 percent of the time attacks African-Americans. The start-up of treatment usually means several blood transfusions. Activities such as a summer swim can be painful. In the long run Mackenzie may, on occasion, need a transfusion. Finding 100-200 “friends” whose blood might match up closest to Mackenzie was the first step in her treatment. A younger sister has one of the traits Mackenzie has but not both and fortunately will not need transfusions.