By Betsy Morse
American Red Cross Utah/Nevada Region

Working with the American Red Cross, Benjamin Donner knows blood donation. He knows all the statistics, such as the Red Cross provides some 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply, and every two seconds on average, someone in the U.S. needs a transfusion. He also knows the importance of giving blood because it can save lives. But he still didn’t see this coming.

The day the blood donor became the blood recipient
“Doctor, is my daddy going to die?” Donner’s son expressed his concern to the emergency physician, who gave the response he and his family needed to hear. “No,” the doctor said, “Everything will be OK. We have the blood we need.” In that moment, Donner became the embodiment of the Red Cross mission. 

Long before he was rushed to an emergency room in Draper, Utah, in critical need of four units of blood, Benjamin was a regular blood donor. And not just because he’s the Executive Director of the Red Cross Central and Southern Utah Chapter. “My stepfather worked with the sheriff’s office in Southern California, and we knew from his work that donating blood was important,” Donner explains.  “He was a regular Red Cross blood doner.”

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Donner grew up also participating in his local church’s regular blood drives. “Between my stepfather and our church, I grew up knowing I would become a blood donor.” With that family history of donation, including his first blood donation as soon as he was eligible at 16, Benjamin says he always knew it was important to give blood to help others. “But I never expected to be a recipient.”

When blood donation becomes personal
“Before my medical emergency need for a blood transfusion, I gave because I understood there is always a need, and it’s the right thing to do,” explains Donner. “Then I found myself at the other end – where four people I will never meet or know had given blood so that it was available when I needed it.” He says now he never misses an opportunity to thank blood donors, not only on behalf of the American Red Cross, “but also for my family and me.”

Sharing a passion for blood donation
Having blood “on the shelf” is the only way that someone in an emergency can be helped, as Benjamin experienced. “There are no substitutes. The only way to have that blood supply available is for people to roll up their sleeves and give,” Donner stresses.

While he doesn’t know how much blood he has donated in the past three decades, Donner recently received a pin for donating 5 gallons of blood at Red Cross blood drives. His O positive blood is in high demand, and he is often a “Power Red” donor, meaning twice as many red blood cells can be extracted as compared to a regular whole blood donation. Red blood cells are the blood component in highest demand.

Blood donation is more important than ever
“It’s a constant quest to make sure we have that blood on the shelf,” Donner says.  “Due to COVID, we’re having the lowest donation levels in over a decade. In the Utah/Nevada Region, the Red Cross needs to collect about 500 units per day, and blood drives are happening every day to help meet that demand.” 
Because you never know when blood will be needed or whose life it might save.

Your individual blood donation contributes to life saving blood transfusions nationwide. Schedule your donation today. To make an appointment, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or download the Red Cross Blood Donor App.