Breanna was born with sickle cell anemia. Blood donations are helping her follow her dreams of acting!
Sickle cell diseases occurs in 1 out of 365 African American births. It affects the shape of the red blood cells, making them crescent-shaped instead of round. The misshapen cells can get stuck in the veins and block blood flow, causing excruciating pain, among other symptoms. Blood donations help patients like Breanna fight symptoms.
“One thing I think about when getting transfusions is, ‘Whose blood is this?’ I want to get to know them and send a thank you card,” Breanna said. “There are a lot of people in the world who could really use that blood and I’ve been in situations before where the shortage affected me.”