Blog
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Donating Blood Saved A Life
March 31, 2010
On a visit last week to deliver ultrasound equipment to the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, John Dau Foundation Associate Medical Director Dr. Reed was called upon for something not requiring his medical knowledge.
The evening of Dr. Reed’s last night in Duk, a young mother and her husband came to the Clinic. She had given birth in her village several weeks ago, and had post-partum hemmorage. In several weeks time since the delivery, her anemia had worsened and she was at risk of dying.
One of the Clinic’s goals for 2009 was to develop the capacity for emergency blood transfusion. Dr. Reed sat with the Clinic’s laboratory technician early in the year and wrote out the needs on a scrap piece of paper. He and other members of JDF’s Board of Directors and Advisors worked for many months to make it a reality, and thanks to generous donors, in November the supplies were delivered to the Clinic.
This was just the third tranfusion to be done, yet each one is done only when a life is at risk, as was the case.
The woman’s blood type happened to match with Dr. Reed’s. It was too much of a coincidence. That moment in the hot Sudan night represented everything coming full circle. After a few moments of reflection and with no other prospective donors immediately available, Dr. Reed donated a unit of blood, just as it would have been done in the United States: with proper screening, cross-matching, and even juice afterwards. And though there were not any stickers like the ones given at blood banks to say so, everyone in and around Duk knew that he had donated blood, and by doing so, saved a life.
