By Anton Ghosh

As thirteen-year-old James Ferguson sat in his hospital room with a life-threatening injury, he struggled to accept that his burgeoning football career was over. His dream of playing for the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders would never come true. He questioned what would come next and how he could fill football’s void. James soon knew that playing the guitar could fill part of that void, but it took him nearly 15 more years to answer more of that question.

When 27-year-old James Ferguson donated blood for the first time at a work-sponsored blood drive in 1983, he thought back to that moment in the hospital. “Giving blood made me realize those thoughts were very juvenile,” said James. It was at that blood drive that James realized donating blood could fill more of football’s void.

Today, James regularly donates blood and plasma through the American Red Cross. Since his first blood drive in 1983, James has donated nearly 30 gallons of blood.  He donates through the Red Cross “whenever he can, whenever they call,” barring work, travel or other personal obligations. He describes the Red Cross as the “greatest community of people.”

For James, donating blood is a deeper act of service to other humans and a simple way of giving back to others in need.  As James explains, “the basis of all this is my faith. There are things that we can do and things that we do and there are opportunities that we have to accept or we run away from. I love to do something for somebody that brightens their day. Their pleasure, their happiness makes me happy.”

James’ desire to help other people is not only unique to him. He is proud of the dedication of his whole family – which he also credits with filling football’s void – to helping others. His sister helps people every day as a nurse at a local hospital in Fremont. Other family members have even interacted with the Red Cross in the past, including his daughter, who is a medic in the Army National Guard, who helped with the emergency response to the 2018 Paradise Fire.