How a Blood Donor Saved My Life

Written by Ashley "Smashley" CollinsHi Friends,You have probably heard by now that I am spearheading a blood drive at Friendship.  This is something that is very close to my heart because last year a blood donor saved my life.  After having my daughter, I suffered a postpartum hemorrhage—my blood pressure dropped to 60/40 and I went into organ failure.  With a hemoglobin of 3.0, I came very close to not seeing my daughter’s second day of life.It is thanks to blood donors that I survived and I got to see not only her second day but I got to see her roll over for the first time, hear her first giggle, her first word, and I got to see her take her first steps.  This past year has truly been an adventure and I'm so glad I've been able to enjoy it and I want to ensure that others get to enjoy their adventures as well.  Every year in the United States, 4.5 million people are saved by blood transfusions; that's 4.5 million adventures--and it means that these people get to enjoy another birthday, another anniversary, another Christmas....or a first birthday as was my case with Victoria.I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support and interest I've received for our blood drive in April.  I know that the blood drive is early and that some of you may not be able to workout that day if you donate (maybe make it a planned rest day) but I ask that you donate because blood is always needed; 32,000 pints of blood are transfused each day in the United States...you will truly be donating life.[maxbutton id="4" url="https://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearchList.jsp?zipSponsor=Friendship" text="Click Here to Register" ] Facts about blood donation:~1 pint of blood can save up to 3 lives!~Every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood~The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 units~Less than 10% of the U.S. population donates each year~You get cookies and juice after donating!If you are a first time donor, below is a link for the Red Cross explaining the donation process:http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/donation-process#fragment-1I know a lot of you would probably like to get a workout in on the day of the drive, please workout BEFORE the drive because you will be discouraged from exerting yourself after donating.  In case you haven't saved the dates on your phone (hint hint), the dates and times of the drives are listed below:Friday, April 6th from 06:30am-11:30amThursday, June 7th from 2pm-7pm[maxbutton id="4" url="https://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearchList.jsp?zipSponsor=Friendship" text="Click Here to Register" ] If you know you are unable to give for any reason you can still help!  Please e-mail me at collins.ashleymarie@gmail.com if you'd like to help.  Thanks!~SmashThis blood drive at Friendship CrossFit is open to anyone in the Dublin community looking to get involved. Register using the links above and please send us an email to let us know to expect you!