blood drive tomorrow

By BETH LAKEY

Staff Writer

If someone had not given blood, Denise Barron would not be able to celebrate Mother’s Day with her 1-year-old daughter.

Barron’s pregnancy last year was normal.

"Everything was fine," she said of being pregnant with Abbie.

She went into the hospital for induced labor, which lasted a day. It was soon after her daughter’s birth that everything changed and Barron found herself hanging on for dear life.

When Barron’s daughter was born on April 4, 2000 a short umbilical cord caused some complications that almost cost the new mother her life.

"The last thing I remember is my doctor standing over me," Barron said.

While she was unconscious, someone else’s blood was being pumped into her, replenishing what she lost from hemorrhaging.

It was that experience that has led her to have Troy Elementary School, where she teaches fourth grade, host a blood drive on Thursday. Although walk-ins are welcome, individuals can register for a time to give. The blood drive will be held from 2-6 p.m.

"I’d never given blood in my life," Barron said, adding this will be the first time she has rolled up her sleeve to donate blood since she had to wait a year after the transfusion.

"Without someone giving blood, I wouldn’t have been able to see Abbie."

That makes Mother’s Day all that more special for Barron and is the reason she wanted to organize a blood drive at this particular time.

"I wish every mother or father would give," Barron said of the gift that can serve as a living reminder of the precious gift given to them.

Barron hopes the blood drive "will help somebody like it helped me."

Since she began asking her fellow teachers to donate the gift of life, Barron has heard all kinds of excuses, such as fear of needles. She’s also found the first to sign up have been those who know from personal experience how much it means to give blood because either they or a loved one has been saved by a blood transfusion.

"I feel like its a need most people don’t have time to fulfill," Barron said of giving blood. "You never think you need to give blood."