LaMorris Rademacher, a senior contact center specialist at Colonial Life, gives to the American Red Cross because no one is exempt from a critical illness or serious accident that could cause them to need a blood transfusion.
“That blood comes from people like you and me,” Rademacher said.
She originally began giving whole blood donations, but her body didn’t react well to losing red blood cells. Instead of giving up, Rademacher found a different way to give.
“Someone from the Red Cross suggested I try donating platelets through apheresis,” she said. Apheresis allows you to donate your platelets – tiny cells in your blood that form clots and stop bleeding – while returning your red blood cells and plasma to your body.
Although this type of donation requires that you donate at an American Red Cross Donation Center and takes a little more time out of your day (about two hours), it helps save the lives of patients facing cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Rademacher’s favorite part of donating to the Red Cross is being able to track where her blood has traveled and how many lives she’s impacted through the Red Cross Blood Donor app.
“I’ve donated 146 units of blood and platelets – which is more than 18 gallons – and impacted 438 lives,” she said. “My goal is to reach 20 gallons!”
There’s always a need for blood, especially in the summer months when donations are lower. Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood, and your donation could potentially save up to three lives.
The American Red Cross facilitates a blood drive at Colonial Life in Columbia, SC every eight weeks. Thirty-three employees donated blood to the blood drive May 29.
