Misericordia University junior Jaime Helms says the American Red Cross helped save her life. Helms received six units of blood when she was j15-years-old. She underwent spinal fusion surgery at Alfred I. DuPont Hospital in Delaware to correct scoliosis, but something went wrong. She felt sick while at home and thought it was imperative to return to the hospital. Her instincts were right.

"They said that if I didn't return that day I would've died," says Helms.

A staff infection had developed in Helms' lungs. She needed blood transfusions immediately and she was given blood on three separate occasions. She had more complications while she was in the hospital. She developed pancreatitis due to antibiotics and was forced to use a feeding tube for the next four months. Helms was hospitalized for two months after her surgery and she was homebound in Carbondale, PA for the next four. She was not able to attend high school so she spent a good portion of her sophomore year being tutored at home every weekday. Helms had an interest in the drive held at Misericordia University even though her sympathetic nervous system has been permanently damaged and she will never be able to donate blood herself.

Helms is used to it. "I was surprised to find out that so many didn't know that people could need blood at any point," she said. Helms feels that the Red Cross is "amazing," and that she would not be alive today if not for the organization.

The Red Cross relies on donors to keep it running. Every time a person donates blood he or she can help save up to three lives. Of those who are able to donate blood, only five percent actually do so. The blood supply is not as plentiful as the Red Cross supporters would like it to be.

"You read all the time in the paper about people needing blood, but you never think it could be someone sitting next to you in class."

* source NEPAGIVELIFE.ORG