One day in April 2021, George Delaney lay in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital. He was exhausted. It had been a long four months. In January 2021, doctors diagnosed him with bladder cancer. At first, they thought it would be a “small problem,” his wife, Bridget, recounts, “but it became a big problem. Everything they tried exhausted him.”
Bridget Delaney-Messana (left) and George Delaney (right) in a vibrant garden—a reminder of their incredible journey together.
During his treatment, blood transfusions were his lifeline and an important source of relief. The tumor made George bleed profusely. It tired him and “made him incredibly anemic,” says Bridget. Blood transfusions were “his survival for many months. It was the only way he got relief and energy.”
Latrese Fowler with her son Cameron when he was young
When Latrese Fowler found out her newborn son didn’t inherit sickle cell disease, she was so overjoyed that she had a celebration. “We had a party when we found out he doesn’t have sickle cell. We went to Las Vegas!” she remembers.
Twenty-six years later, Latrese is mom to grownup Cameron, and you can hear the pride in her voice as she describes his job as a utility locator. She is grateful her son was spared a lifetime of pain and hundreds of hospital visits treating sickle cell disease and its complications. It’s an experience she knows about firsthand.
Baby Ripley needed blood transfusions to recover from open heart surgery.
“He was turning blue when he was crying,” recalls Hayes Shair, about his son. Baby Ripley needed open heart surgery but he was only a newborn.
Ripley’s parents knew before he was born that he had a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. It was identified during his mom’s 20-week ultrasound. But they didn’t expect the operation to happen so fast. Ripley was rushed into open heart surgery at just 30 days old.
“The speed at which it had to be done was unexpected,” Hayes says.
Unfortunately, baby Ripley’s situation is not rare. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart defects affect nearly 1% of births, or about 40,000 babies, each year in the United States. Congenital heart defects affect how blood flows through the heart and out to the rest of the body. Babies with critical heart defects need surgery or other procedures in the first year of life.
After the surgery to repair the hole between his heart’s left and right ventricles, baby Ripley needed multiple blood transfusions to recover. He stayed in hospital for about two weeks.
But you wouldn’t know it today! An active 8-year-old now, he gets checkups every year but is cleared to do regular kid activities.
Ripley is a healthy and active 8-year-old now.
“He’s a handful, but he’s a fun handful!” says Hayes, a father of two.
Hayes was so thankful for the lifesaving blood his son received that he decided he wanted to donate himself. With some encouragement from his wife (a long-time blood donor), Hayes gave blood for the first time more than four years ago. Now a regular, he gives blood to the American Red Cross every two months.
He says it’s a positive experience, “It feels good. People here are very friendly.”
The Red Cross appreciates blood donors like Hayes, who have learned through personal experience how important blood donations are to saving the lives of children like Ripley. Thank you, Hayes and all our regular blood donors!
If you too are inspired by Baby Ripley to donate lifesaving blood or platelets, make your appointment at redcrossblood.org today!
A Tender but Strong Love Becomes the Foundation of Gratitude and Giving
When Phillip Wong, a math professor at Contra Costa College, met Lisa Lemus—a K-12 teacher—at a church dance on Valentine’s Day in 1996, everything changed. As divorcees, they both understood what it meant to spend a life together, yet they also understood what it meant to live alone (coincidentally, they’d both been single for 17 years). Most of all, family was everything to them. Phillip had three grown children, and Lisa had two. But living on their own had left them open to dating, and their meeting was unforgettable.
Sophia Eckert’s first experience donating platelets with the American Red Cross in January 2025 was an emotional experience. Sophia looked around at the frequent donors who, according to the phlebotomist, came weekly to give platelets and she started to think about her two-year old son Roger. “That made me tear up,” Sophia said, “thinking Roger might have used their blood product to save his life.”
American Red Cross staff and volunteers are like family, we care about each other’s health and happiness, especially when challenges appear. We first heard Liza Trujillo Frazer’s story at a blood donation presentation at an elementary school where she shared her personal journey with Brian Oftedal, a long-time dedicated supporter of Red Cross educational events. They both have children who attend the same school.
Brian knew of Liza through their mutual parent leadership, and he admires her work, “Liza is all about community. She is a huge support at our school, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like here without her. And how she has managed her own health challenges is remarkable: from being a reliable blood donor to being a recipient, a life-changing transition.”
Liza’s love of families and children was strengthened in her early twenties as a case manager for a private facility for higher needs foster kids and for social welfare programs for teen parents at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She strived to help clients have the best outcomes possible. The hospital also encouraged staff to donate blood and Liza gladly responded. Over 13 years she gave close to 5 gallons of her blood to help others in need. She was deeply motivated by the sick children she continually saw at the facility.
But things changed for Liza in 2008 when she discovered her own serious medical challenges and was no longer able to donate: she became, instead, a blood recipient, desperately needing our resources.
“I never thought when I was donating blood to help others that, years later, I would be a recipient,” said Liza.
Liza had been stricken with ulcerative colitis, causing anemia, followed by pulmonary hypertension. Along with the pain, treatments, and worry, she now needed blood to save her own life. There were many hard years, but her faith stayed strong, and she had some periods of recovery.
During this struggle, Liza and her devoted husband, David, were amazed and delighted to discover that, despite many odds during a period of recovery, she became pregnant with their first son, Ezequiel, now 8. The delivery went just fine. In fact, the pregnancy helped her into remission.
After a couple of years, she became pregnant again, but now in a worsened health condition. Against the advice of her specialists and facing more complicated consequences, she persevered, under close specialty care and had another boy, Manuel, now 5. Her faith guided her through the worries of doctors, family, and friends.
“I’m so deeply thankful to those who donate blood, because of them, I can continue to be the wife, mom and caretaker my family needs,” said Liza.
Liza’s deep, enduring faith and determination to find solutions to life’s profound challenges are an inspiration to her family and community. She gladly offers her insights on her complicated illnesses and treatments.
“As a member of the American Red Cross Leadership Council, we all thank Liza for her years of blood donation and all the work she does to improve the health of our community today,” shared Brian.
At that elementary school meeting, Liza was representing her role as the Family Fun Coordinator. Indeed, spend some time with Liza and you will reconsider your own worries and see more possibilities all around us. We are so fortunate to be able to help in her recovery!
Your Red Cross Update 