Tag Archives: Platelets

40 Pints: A Life, a Loss, and a Lifesaving Mission

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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.”

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One Baby’s Journey: Saving a 10-month-old’s life

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Photo courtesy of Sophia Eckert

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.”

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Paying it forward: Red Cross Platelet Donor Achieves 100-gallon Milestone

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Craig Wilson donating platelets
Photo by Martin Gagliano – American Red Cross

“I believe that when you receive blessings in life then you really have to give something back,” said Craig Wilson, a platelet donor who has reached an incredible 100th-gallon milestone at the Oakland Blood Donation Center. “I’ve been blessed with good health, and this is my way to pay it forward. Even if I’m not getting anything out of this -well, I get a T-shirt sometimes- it doesn’t matter because I know I’m helping the community. That’s the point”.

Craig started donating blood in Chicago around 1978. “There was a need for blood donors and I decided to donate for the first time. I did it a couple of times in the year, but with not much awareness,” he remembers.

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