Day: October 8, 2024

SAN ANTONIO – Hurricane Milton, now a powerful category 5 hurricane, is closing in on Florida’s west coast, with landfall expected Wednesday night. It arrives as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation left by Helene, which hit last week.

North Carolina and Tennessee are also in need, and platelet donations are needed to help local patients due to aftermath of Helene.

South Texas Blood & Tissue stands together with fellow blood centers and has sent more than 100 units of O blood to prepare for shortages expected from Hurricane Milton, which is slated to be one of the worst storms Florida has faced in more than a century.

Despite Florida blood centers’ efforts to keep operations running during Hurricane Helene, hundreds of whole blood and platelet donations were lost because of power outages, disrupted work schedules and storm damage.

South Texans can help our neighbors by donating with South Texas Blood & Tissue. Community support is crucial to having an adequate blood supply across the country. Your generous donations are helping to save lives and bring hope during this difficult time.

All blood types are needed, especially O-positive and O-negative.

Much like South Texas Blood & Tissue, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina hospitals rely on their community blood centers to have blood available for their patients. Blood transfusions help cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, new mothers and those who may be critically injured.

“Our neighbors have been affected by Hurricane Helene and it’s been very challenging for them. With another hurricane in the horizon, it is best to be as prepared as we can,” Audra Taylor, Vice President of Blood Operations, South Texas Blood & Tissue said.  “If we can all have our neighbors and friends step up, we can help recovery efforts.”

Both blood donors and blood drive sponsors are needed. Schedule a blood donation or drive by visiting SouthTexasBlood.org or call 210.731.5590 to book a donation.

More than 100 people showed up for the Diverse Desserts & Donations event Thursday at the Donor Pavilion. Representatives from University Health, NMDP, Donate Life Texas, Methodist Transplant Institute, San Antonio Eye Bank, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, South Texas Blood & Tissue and Transplants for Children.

Visitors had the opportunity to sign up for the donor registry. Some recipients spoke with others to state the importance of donation and what diverse donations means for patients.

Leticia Mondragon with NMDP was one of the speakers.

“Diversity is the keyword,” she said. “When we match a patient with a donor, it all has to do with their ethnic background. Every day we are giving hope to those patients.”

Every three minutes, somebody is diagnosed with a blood cancer. This makes the need to register to give stem cells even more important, she said.

“All it takes is to register to be someone’s cure.”

More info about donation:

• Nearly 60% of the national transplant waiting list is from minority communities. Transplants can be successful regardless of the ethnicity of the donor and recipient. However, the chance of longer-term survival may be greater if the donor and recipient share a close genetic background.  
• A single donor can save up to eight lives via organ donation and restore sight to two people through cornea donation. They can also help more than 75 patients through tissue donation.
• Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to be an organ, eye and tissue donor by visiting donatelifetexas.org.

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Emmanuel Casasola’s father Jose taught him how to play the guitar. When Emmanuel played as part of South Texas Blood & Tissue‘s Remembrance Celebration in August, he felt close to his father, a tissue donor who passed in 2017. 

Emmanuel sang meaningful songs for more than 40 tissue donor families. He, like many other survivors, shared memories of their beloved departed in a place where their voices are heard. Families, including many on Facebook, joined the event for a night dedicated to tissue donors. 

A place to talk, create, share

Tissue donation is an integral piece of our lifesaving mission, yet seldom talked about in detail, says Susan Smith, Life Legacies and Grief Support Manager. When death is involved, many don’t want to talk about it, she explains. Families are often silenced or not seen. 

“When folks are grieving, they often feel isolated,” Susan says. “But look around, you’re not the only one on this journey, and we’re all here to hold space with each other, to tell our stories, to catch other’s stories and in a safe place while having some fun. 

“When we’re together, we’re all together – an extended family.” 

The theme for this year’s Remembrance Celebration was “Continuing Bonds.” 

Donor families created stained glass hearts, held a candlelight vigil, and molded pipe cleaner hearts. These were interlocked into a larger chain adorning the Legacy Garden.  

The pipe cleaner hearts serve as a representation that nobody should grieve alone. They represent the bonds people create by interacting. 

Since 2015, Susan has given tissue donor families the chance to be heard. They’re able to share their grief in a safe space while having fun and connecting with others with shared experiences.  

“I’m going to make it a happy place, not a place of misery,” she says. “We are going to do happy activities and think about them positively.”  

Susan says tissue donation is often misunderstood. 

“With organ donation families, they can say ‘I got to hear my son’s heart beating or see corneas right away. Tissue donation isn’t always able to give specifics of where it went or who it helped. Despite that, it continues to enhance lives.”  

A lifesaving legacy

An individual’s issue donation can help as many as 75 people and can be stored for up to five years to continue helping others. Skin, bone and connective tissue can help a wide range of people. Including women undergoing mastectomies, babies with cleft palates, injured athletes, burn victims or many who need reconstructive surgery.  

“You know our connections with loved ones remain after they die, they just change shape and form a little bit,” Susan says. “When the donation is talked about, it brings our loved ones forward with us. Your loved one is moving forward via that donation.” 

The heart chain placed outside Donor Pavilion remains hanging. Despite the harsh weather conditions, heavy winds, rain, and heat, the chain remains: an allegorical reminder that bonds can transcend all adversaries and endure.