By Kim Mailes, American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Public Affairs
Denise Whittington of Denver has touched many, many lives since she was a young woman just out of college. She’s been a schoolteacher, a business leader, a mentor in her church, a wife and mother, an overall force for good in her community. But all that nearly didn’t happen, because one day she nearly died.
Her life was saved because seven strangers—“angels” she calls them—took time to donate blood to the American Red Cross.
By her early twenties, Denise had already been promoting and coordinating Red Cross blood drives for five years, calling co-workers and encouraging them to donate.
“My personal goal had been to recruit a minimum of five new donors for each blood drive at the office where I worked. I met my goal over the course of ten blood drives — that’s fifty new donors. I never dreamed I would someday need a blood transfusion myself. Donating blood was something I viewed as a good deed. I did it for others, never expecting that someday someone else’s gift would save my own life.”
That day came when Denise arrived at the hospital for a minor exploratory procedure, anticipating she would be home that evening. She expected to be a little sore, but no big deal.
And then something went very wrong.
During the procedure, the laparoscope had perforated her left iliac artery, the major artery that transports blood from the aorta down to the femur. Her blood pressure dropped alarmingly. Initially, the doctor thought it was reaction to anesthesia, but her condition grew worse and she was rushed to surgery as her life hung in the balance.
“After the third surgery, I was transferred from the outpatient clinic to the hospital, where I spent the night in intensive care,” she said. “Miraculously, it looked like I would be all right. I had lost so much blood that it took a total of seven units to replace what I had lost. Those next few hours were critical ones, but I made it!”
Every two seconds in America someone needs blood, and forty-percent of that supply comes from the American Red Cross. After blood is collected, it undergoes testing and processing—and that takes time. In order to save lives, blood must be ready and waiting the moment it is needed.
“When an emergency occurs,” Denise said, “when someone really needs it, the blood must be on the shelf or else it’s too late. It if hasn’t already been donated, the patient can bleed to death. I almost died, and even though my entire family was at my bedside when I needed blood so desperately, doctors didn’t have the time to take blood from them and run all the mandatory tests. The blood must be available when the emergency takes place.”
“There are seven people out there who took the time to give before my emergency occurred,” Denise reflects. “They aren’t just heroes, they are my angels, and without their generosity, I would not be here today. It is such an awesome feeling to know that seven people graciously gave to me —a complete stranger— the gift of life. I wish I knew their names. I wish I could thank them personally.”
Starting in April, 2024, Denverites can turn their compassion into action by giving blood at the Denver American Red Cross Blood Donation Center located at 444 W Sherman Street. Make an appointment now for an upcoming donation at the blood center or at select community blood drives by going to RedCrossBlood.org and entering your ZIP Code, or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Most donations typically take less than an hour. Appointments are strongly encouraged.