A good reason to donate blood: One patient's story
massgeneral.org
A group of employees dedicated to helping MGH patients by regularly donating blood recently had the opportunity to hear firsthand how their donations can affect just one life. At the annual Employee Blood Donor Appreciation Luncheon held Oct. 5 in the Thier Conference Room, Pamela Ressler (below) recounted how her beloved 14-year-old son, Nick, was able to live a quality life for six months during his battle with cancer in 2001 because of the many blood products he received while being treated at the MGH.
The eighth grader from Concord, Mass., fought a rare form of cancer with the help of his MGH caregivers who gave him chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As a result of the treatments, Nick had many blood transfusions. His mother, who has been a nurse for more than 25 years, knew how important it was for Nick to get the blood that he needed during his illness, so she worked with the MGH Blood Donor Center and a family friend to recruit people from the Concord community to donate at blood drives especially for Nick. The MGH bloodmobile was deployed twice to Concord during those six months to retrieve much-needed blood from willing volunteers who wanted to help Nick and his family.
Pamela Ressler was accustomed to blood products being used by patients, but was curious to know how much Nick used during his illness. Staff from the MGH Blood Donor Center calculated that it took 300 blood donors to provide these crucial blood products for Nick's use.
A third blood drive was scheduled for April of 2001, but Nick's battle with the cancer that attacked his fragile body was lost April 9, two weeks before the blood drive. After careful consideration, the Ressler family decided to continue with the blood drive in honor of the "other Nicks who might need blood." The Concord community came out in full force to donate in Nick's memory — a tradition that continues today with his many friends, family members and neighbors who still host the Nick Ressler annual blood drive every April.
"I want to thank you all for regularly donating blood to the MGH," said Ressler. "You help patients like my Nick, who was president of his class, played lacrosse, got straight A's and was a musician. He was too young to die but was able to live a full life for those six months because of people like you."
Ressler's story touched all the blood donors at the luncheon who appreciated hearing how their time in a donation chair, squeezing a stress ball results in such a precious gift that can help even one person. Maria Hood, of MGH Employee Education and Leadership Development and a longtime donor, wondered if her past donations of B positive blood might have gone to Nick who also was B positive. "It feels good to know that my donations can directly help someone in need," she said. "I may not have all the time I would like to do volunteer work, but spending 30 minutes at the Blood Donor Center every eight weeks is my way to help someone else."
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