By Cristina Maisel

After shoveling out from a snowstorm, Ty Marks walked across the street to an American Red Cross blood drive at Marshall Math Science Academy in Harrisburg. For Ty, giving back on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was top of mind, and when she found the blood drive happening right in her neighborhood as a part of the Central PA MLK-365’s Day of Service, she knew it was the perfect opportunity to make a difference.

Marks’s journey as a blood donor began after her own battle with breast cancer. After completing her treatments, she started donating blood as a way to pay it forward. Following her first donation, she received a letter from the Red Cross regarding her sickle cell trait screening. While she does not carry the sickle cell trait, she discovered that her blood type contains antigens that are often closely matched to sickle cell patients. That knowledge became an additional motivation for her continued donations.

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic blood disorder in the United States and regular transfusions are critical for managing extreme pain and life-threatening complications. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions can make finding compatible blood types more difficult when patients develop an immune response against blood from donors that is not closely matched to the blood of the recipient. Blood types go beyond the primary A, B, O and AB blood types. There are more than 300 known antigens, and some antigens are unique to specific racial and ethnic groups.

Because of her specific blood type, Marks was offered the opportunity to make a Power Red donation, allowing her to maximize her impact. Power Red donors give a concentrated dose of red blood cells in a single donation, while the plasma and platelets are safely and comfortably returned to the donor. Marks happily took the opportunity, joking that she felt like she was “at the spa.”

For patients with sickle cell disease, closely matched blood donations can make a lifesaving difference. Due to unique structures on their red blood cells, donors who are Black are almost three times more likely to be a match for patients with sickle cell disease than donors who are not Black or African American. Marks encouraged others to roll up a sleeve to help others.

“Please do it,” Marks said. “With everything we do in life, we’re always scared at first. I too was apprehensive, but just come in and do it. Look at the positives. You get instant gratification. You can see how you’re helping right away. Where else can you do that?”

Helping Patients through the Sickle Cell Initiative

The Red Cross is committed to maintaining a diverse blood supply to ensure the right blood product is available at the right time. In 2021, the Red Cross launched the Sickle Cell Initiative to grow the number of blood donors who are Black to help patients with sickle cell disease and improve health outcomes. Since our launch, more than 125,000 first-time African American blood donors have rolled up a sleeve to donate blood.

As a part of the Sickle Cell Initiative, the Red Cross currently tests all donations from self-identified African American or multiracial donors for the sickle cell trait, providing an additional health insight. Sickle cell trait is inherited, meaning an individual with the trait received a sickle cell gene from at least one parent but does not have sickle cell disease. Many are unaware of their status, as sickle cell trait screening was not widely available until 2006. So far, more than 260,000 sickle cell trait screenings have been provided and the Red Cross has set a new goal of 500,000 screenings due to the importance of this health insight.

The Red Cross continues to build on the momentum of the Sickle Cell Initiative through partnerships with national and local organizations that play a vital role in building trust, sharing information and engaging new donors to help save lives.

Blood and platelet donations are vital in supporting patients with sickle cell disease undergoing gene therapies, stem cell transplants as well as those in need of regular blood transfusions to alleviate pain and help manage their disease. Schedule a blood donation appointment today by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, using the Blood Donor App or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.