June 25th 2011
>Blood banks see shortage in summer
Without Oklahoma blood donors, Cox wouldn’t be alive today. He received a record 90 pints in 24 hours after a motorcycle wreck in October 2009. Blood banks always have to be ready for a situation like Cox’s, but in the summer, their supply often dips as usual donors go on vacation or take time off for the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, said Sara Wilson, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Blood Institute. Also, with school out, there are no blood drives specifically for high school students, she said. “Those are the kinds of things that can put our supply in jeopardy,” she said. Jan Hale, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Tulsa, said high school students make up about 18 percent of donors in Oklahoma. The Red Cross is calling for O-negative blood in particular, which can be transfused to people of any blood type. The supply of O-negative blood at the Red Cross has reached a critically low level, Hale said. Cox, 56, received 104 pints of blood over two days after his accident. He was flown to a hospital in Oklahoma City after he crashed on Oklahoma 51 while on his way to Tulsa from his home in Perkins. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. Cox donated blood a couple of times before the accident but didn’t think much about how it could help somebody. Now he’s a strong advocate “If (people) have a chance to (donate), they ought to because they could be saving somebody they know’s life,” he said. His mother, Wanda Cox-Nelson, has donated twice since her son’s accident and plans to continue as long as she is able. Her husband, Doug Nelson, has been donating since 1963 and estimates he has given about 200 pints. Cox’s accident helped remind him of the importance of blood donation, he said. “I don’t look for gratitude,” he said. “I just think it helps the (medical) system.”
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Tags: Banks, Blood Banks
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