Hope 4 Healing Effort Fights Sickle Cell

By Jennifer Guarino Special to Collierville Appeal

Morgan Harris was born with sickle cell disease and needs blood transfusions every three weeks. She’s a high energy and spunky little girl with a big heart and bigger dreams. Sherry Brown has battled sickle cell disease all her life. Sometimes the pain is so bad in her legs that she can’t walk. Morgan and Sherry never hesitate to tell anyone that blood provided by Lifeblood’s volunteer donors add quality to their lives.

Sherry Brown and Morgan Harris are two of Lifeblood’s Sickle Cell Sweethearts. The day-to-day experiences and challenges of patients like Morgan and Sherry made such an impact on Collierville resident Dr. Stacy Spencer, senior pastor of New Direction Christian Church, that he decided to tackle the community’s need for blood donors head- on. Spencer is chairing Lifeblood’s Hope 4 Healing campaign and is focused on recruiting 5,000 new African-American blood donors to support patients in local hospitals.

We have the opportunity – the challenge – and the hope to heal our community of the pain caused by sickle cell disease. Donating blood is easy and can help ease the pain experienced by our friends and family members. Please join me as we ensure that sickle cell patients always have the blood they need for life,” he said.

One in 350 African-Americans are born with sickle cell disease. The greater Memphis medical district hosts one of the country’s largest treatment centers for sickle cell disease. Blood transfusion is often used as a treatment to ease the pain caused by the disease. Only blood from volunteer donors can be used during a transfusion.

As our community’s only full-service blood center, Lifeblood provides the blood needed by sickle cell patients. More African- American blood donors are needed to help local patients. Because sickle cell disease is inherited and blood types are determined by heredity, African-American donors offer the best matches for patients requiring blood transfusions for sickle cell disease.

Donating blood is safe, simple, takes less than an hour and doesn’t hurt. Individuals who are in generally good health, at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds may donate blood. Call Lifeblood at 529-6320 or visit lifeblood.org to find to learn more about the Hope 4 Healing program or to find out more about donating blood and saving lives in our community.

Jennifer Guarino is a communications specialist for Lifeblood.