University of Southern Maine student Rachel Miller has the distinction of being the person having had more blood transfusions than anyone else living in Maine.
Starting just after her first birthday, she received 298 blood transfusions as she battled familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or FEL.
It’s a rare autoimmune disease in which Miller’s body attacked her red blood cells, requiring regular transfusions to keep her alive.
Last April Diane Miller, Rachel’s mother, told USM’s student newspaper, The Free Press, that when her infant daughter was sickest she needed a blood transfusion every day. Diane would call Maine Medical Center each day to make sure the blood was available and, sometimes, when supply was tight the hospital had to check with the Red Cross to verify availability.
“And I remember hanging up thinking, if there’s no blood, my daughter’s gonna die,” Diane told the USM newspaper. “And that was just mind blowing for me.”
Rachel’s FEL was diagnosed at Boston’s Children’s Hospital where, after two failed attempts to give her a bone marrow transplant, doctors told her parents that there was little they could do to save her life and suggested they prepare to say good-bye to their daughter.
Diane and Rob Miller refused to give up and Rachel was transferred to the University of Minnesota Hospital where she was successfully treated.
At the time, doctors told Rachel’s parents they didn’t know whether she would ever talk, walk or learn to read, but she did. And, in 2010, she was the valedictorian of Portland’s Deering High School graduating class.
Rachel’s recovery is a tremendous success story, and she and her family know she wouldn’t be alive without blood donors.
An estimated 4.5 million Americans need blood transfusions every year and the daily demand for blood in the United States and Canada is 43,000 pints, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In more dire terms, that means someone in this country needs blood every two seconds, a need that depends on the generosity of strangers.
Not everyone is eligible to give blood because of age, low weight or existing disease, disqualifying 37 percent of all Americans. Of the remaining people — nearly 200 million of us — only 10 percent donate annually.
That’s enough to stay ahead of the need, but only if donations and need match consistently through the year because the shelf life for red blood cells is only about 42 days. That matching consistency doesn’t happen, of course, so there is real reason for the American Red Cross to be aggressive about seeking blood donations to ensure adequate supply on demand.
On Monday, the Red Cross issued an urgent call for donations.
In July, blood donations were the lowest since 1996 and, throughout the summer, donations were at a 15-year low.
Typically every summer, blood donations slack as people get busy with outdoor activities and go away on vacation, reducing donor numbers usually seen at other times of the year. The same trend pops up again over the Christmas holidays when people say they’re simply too busy to donate.
At the same time, the need for blood transfusions typically goes up during these times as people tend to drive more often and over greater distances, increasing the need for blood replacement for car accident victims. And, there are the patients like Miller who are in chronic need of blood transfusions to battle disease.
In her valedictorian address to fellow classmates, Rachel Miller urged them to “seek to play a role in someone’s miracle” as hundreds of blood donors and a bone marrow donor had done for her.
“A simple task can save a life. Small actions can accomplish great things,” she said.
She’s right.
Giving blood takes about an hour. It’s a simple task and can save a life.
We urge you, our readers, to give. Be part of this critical human supply chain.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.
To give blood:
Thursday
Winthrop: St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 20 Lake St., 1 to 6 p.m.
Friday
Farmington: Roderick-Crosby American Legion Post 28, 158 High St., noon to 6 p.m.
West Bath: West Bath Fire Department, 192 State Road, 1 to 6 p.m.
Saturday
Lewiston: L-A Harley Davidson, 839 Main St., 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
To make a future appointment to give blood, call (800) RED-CROSS or go to redcrossblood.org.
Central Maine Medical Center has a blood donation site that is open for appointments or walk-in donors on Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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