Mesquite resident Sue Cox-Pyatt started donating blood more than 50 years ago and no matter where she moved to, she always made sure to give blood. Recently she reached a milestone of donating 28 gallons of blood.
By Keith Paul
American Red Cross Utah/Nevada Region Communications Director
Mesquite resident Sue Cox-Pyatt donated blood on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, just has she has done 232 times before. Sue doesn’t think she’s done anything special. But the 233rd blood donation pushed her over the amazing 28-gallon milestone, an amount with the potential to save some 675 lives.
“I love the idea that I can help so many people in the 45 minutes or less it takes to give blood,” she said. “I’m sure everyone has 45 minutes.”
Sue first decided to give blood in the 1960s and never stopped
“It’s just something that I do, and I make sure to make time for it,” says the 73-year-old who first donated when she was a Montana high school student. “It’s important to donate, and other things can wait. I’ve made it a part of my life, a part of my routine.”
Sue recalls that it all started when the American Red Cross came to her school as part of a science class and set up in the gym. “I said, ‘Let’s go see what this is about.’ I talked with the Red Cross volunteers, and that day was the first time I donated blood.” Donating blood at Red Cross blood drives would become a life-long vocation for her.
Second incentive to give: wine & a day off
Sue smiles when she talks about her first employer, a health care insurance company whose management provides an interesting incentive for its employees to give blood.
“Every time you reach a gallon of blood donated, they give you a day off and a gallon of wine,” she recalled. “Now if that isn’t an incentive, I don’t know what is.” She jokes that when she finished a donation, she makes sure to sign up for the next one.
Sue explains she uses the Red Cross Donor App to schedule donations but also to follow her blood on its journey to a hospital where it goes to a patient in need. “I do love to follow my blood’s journey on the app. Sometimes I see it go to Las Vegas, sometimes Utah, and sometimes much farther,” she smiles. In fact, Sue has tracked her donations as far away as Myrtle Beach and Philadelphia.
Third incentive to give: a personal passion
Years ago, Sue’s partner, now husband, had to go to the hospital for treatments every week, and she passed by the peripheral blood stem cell donation area. “I saw the donors in that environment and confirmed how important it is to give blood,” she says.
About every two seconds in the United States, blood is needed to respond to patient emergencies, according to Rachel Flanigan, Executive Director of the American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter, including accidents and burns, heart surgery, organ transplants, and leukemia, cancer, and sickle cell disease treatment, she says.
“Transfusable blood can only be obtained through donations,” Flanigan stresses. “For as long as medicine has been around, we’ve had to rely on the generosity of others to give blood so it’s available when needed,” she says. “Any of us – our friends, family, neighbors – could be in an accident or become ill some day and need blood. Yet, in the U.S., where 62% of the population is eligible to give, only 3% does.
Sue says that statistic shocks her, and “It really is awful that more people don’t donate. I try to encourage others to give. Really, in a matter of minutes, you can help so many – just find the time.”
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.