|
|
|
High School Students Catch the
Spirit!
 Across the nation, another year of high
school and high hopes is underway. Teens everywhere are reuniting with their friends to
talk about summer adventures, new classes, old teachers, upcoming dances and longstanding
football rivalries. Spirits are high to make this the best year ever by going after good
grades, meaningful relationships and purposeful activities.
And more than ever before, students seventeen years
of age and up are demonstrating their maturity and compassion for others by participating
in community blood donor drives scheduled at their schools. This remarkable outpouring of
youthful community awareness
is a hopeful sign that these students will carry with them into adulthood, their generous
spirit for giving life to others by making blood donation a regular and continuing habit.
When asked the question, "why did you decide to
become a donor?" most students take a moment to think before answering.
"Well, I wanted to do it because I really
wanted to help people, and human life is really a value to me," replied one young
woman between sips of juice served her by a volunteer.
 "I figured out that my blood must be healthy because of the sports I do so I might
as well do something nice to people that I’d want someone to do for me if I needed
blood," answered a young man in his tie-dye T shirt.
While these high school students express the spirit
of altruism and community awareness in their responses, they are genuinely moved when they
meet or hear stories of patients who have actually benefited from their donations. This is
particularly true when the patient is a teenager like themselves.
Sitting at the piano in her living room, Jenny has
just completed 36 out of a 48-week protocol of chemotherapy and radiation. She’s
being treated for Ewings Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that is usually found only in teens.
She knows how critical it is that blood was there for her when she’s needed it.
"I’ve had at least 40 blood transfusions," she says, "cause I
didn’t have very good blood counts so they always had to infuse me with blood."
Take, for instance, Chris, a tall, healthy-looking 16-year old, who up until a week
before he "got sick" was regularly lifting weights and riding his mountain bike
over long trails everyday. And then, his life changed radically. "Overnight, I guess
you could say, I just started getting sick." A chest x-ray revealed Chris’ liver
was twice the size of what it should have been and his heart was severely enlarged. The
next day he was diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy caused by an unknown
virus. When potent drug therapy and medicines failed to bring his heart back to normal,
Chris was placed on
a heart transplant list. "Oh, I was scared," he admits, thinking back to that
time, unashamed of his emotionalism. After two long months of waiting for an organ donor,
a successful transplantation did take place, and today, a very grateful young man reflects
on how close to death he nearly was.
 To show his gratitude for his second chance at life in a demonstrable way, Chris
organized a blood drive at his church, earning himself the rank of Eagle Scout in the
process. "I got the majority of the congregation in to give blood," he recalls,
"and they were all pretty willing considering what I’d been through and
they’re all very compassionate people, so it was a great success.
By their growing participation at high school blood drives all over the nation, there
is no doubt that students understand the importance of the word "compassion".
They know that "somebody out there needs me" and that their determination
to keep on giving blood is a responsible pledge toward becoming an adult.
|
