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Ten gallons, two pints
Cami Malleck likes the idea of maybe helping a child, and she thinks, too, that giving blood can help her get over her fear of needles.
Cami gave blood Thursday during a Red Cross Bloodmobile on the fairgrounds in McCook. For the McCook Community College freshman, it was just her second time to donate blood.
Cami said her mind drifts while she's giving blood -- "homework that needs to be done ... chores that Mom needs me to do ... " She tries to think calming thoughts to make the blood donor process easier. "I stay calm," she said, breathing in and out peacefully, squeezing the little ball rhythmically. "I lost the feeling in my fingers for a while last time," she chuckled.
"I'm still nervous," she admitted. "But if my brother, Jerome, did it and he can stand it, so can I. He has a fear of needles, too."
Cami added, thoughtfully, "I might also be saving some little kid, or helping some family. That's a comforting thought."
Because winter weather forced the cancellation of blood drives or road conditions prevented donors from attending those still planned, blood supplies are low and the Red Cross has issued urgent pleas for donations of blood.
From the first of the year until now, the North Platte office of the Red Cross has lost 1,300 donations, said Cathy Carman, who coordinates blood drives in McCook.
Thursday's blood drive started as a drive for Type O only, but because the need is so great, it was opened to everyone, Carman said.
"The response from the community and the area has been awesome," she said. "We started the day with 152 appointments. That's phenomenal."
By the end of the day, 159 people had offered to donate blood, and 140 units actually were collected.
Carman said she appreciates the extra nursing staff the North Platte office has provided for the drive in McCook. One nurse can work with two donors every 15 minutes, she said.
Carman said the North Platte office also provides the personnel to bag and seal the blood and prepare it for shipment.
Carman said blood would be shipped to North Platte for proper storage halfway through the day.
The blood that Richard Cole donated Thursday afternoon would go to North Platte with a second shipment.
Cole donated his 80th pint of blood Thursday, making his total of donated blood 10 gallons.
Cole said he has made it a habit to give blood, usually taking his lunch break, from Volz Plumbing and Heating, to give blood.
Cole said he has given blood regularly since he donated in the middle 1980s when his father-in-law underwent open heart surgery.
"I had given twice in the service, in the late 1950s," Cole said. "Can you imagine how much blood I would have donated if I had gotten into the habit after I left the service ... ?"
Carman laughed as she handed Cole a 10-gallon recognition pin, "You'd be way past my pins!"