Kris fell into a storm door and the glass severed an artery in his left arm.
He was life-flighted to surgery where doctors faced a difficult challenge. An artery
from his leg had to replace the severed one in his arm. Kris was hospitalized for a week,
receiving more than seven units of blood products. Therapy sessions three times a week for
two months have helped Kris begin to regain full use of his arm.
His mother Carolynann urges blood donors, "Don’t wait, because you just
don’t know what will happen." Kris’s mother, father, grandmother and
grandfather have all either received blood from the Red Cross or have helped out in some
way.
Victims of accidents often need type O blood. Yet supplies remain critically low,
particularly for types O negative and O positive. Today started out with just over a
half-day supply of O negative and O positive as well as 5 other blood types which are
below minimum inventory standards. Blood donations are urgently needed. For information,
call the Red Cross at 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit
