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Emergency Need for Blood at The Red Cross

Meghan McRoberts

OMAHA (KPTM)-

Officials with The Red Cross say the summer time is always a dry period for blood and platelet donations. But this year, there is an emergency need for more donors.

Officials say donations are down 10% across the country, with about half the needed supply.

Jenny Cook knows too well the importance of having blood products on hand at the hospital.

Her 4-year-old daughter Ella has already had 3 open-heart surgeries that could have gone wrong without blood products.

Ella was born with a Hypoplastic left heart. That means the left side never developed.

"She will tell people she has a special heart, or a broken heart," said Cook.

Ella had her first surgery when she was just 6 days old. Her third open- heart surgery was just 8 weeks ago.

"She would tell us that her breath was out of her and she needed to rest," explained Cook.

Before the surgeries, she could hardly walk the few yards from her garage, to the family's chicken coop, where they keep 7 chickens.

"She couldn't keep up with other kids prior to this. She was blue. She's not blue anymore. She's pink," said Cook.

Now Ella is full of energy, and doesn't let her "special heart" slow her down. But Cook knows this probably wouldn't be the case had someone not donated blood for Ella.

"We wouldn't have her if she didn't get the blood products. She either needs blood or her surgery doesn't go as planned or we have complications at the end," said Cook.

Cook says Ella is a lucky one, hoping a shortage of blood won't slow her down in the future, or keep her cooped up in a hospital longer than she has to be.

If you're interested in donating blood, follow the link below to book an appointment.

http://bit.ly/x2Nr0I.