Giving Blood: Three generations of women help save lives
A family that donates together, has a little fun together.
At a recent blood drive one afternoon in the Burwell Conference Room at Falmouth Hospital, a mother, daughter and grandmother—all from the same family—turn their good deed into a competition of sorts, seeing who can donate blood the fastest.
“We all check our times to see how long it takes to donate our unit—it just makes it fun,” says grandmother Ellen Drew.
On this day, mom Terri Johnson wins bragging rights, with a time of about five minutes. Daughter Hailey Lewis comes in a close second with six minutes and change, followed by Ellen at seven minutes.
“Mine used to take forever,” says Hailey, “but now that I drink a lot more water before I arrive, it goes a little bit faster. I know it sounds a little morbid, but we have fun with it. We make some memories and save lives while we do it.”
The trio has been rolling up their sleeves together for several years now to donate blood to help family, friends and neighbors on the Cape in need of this vital resource. “You can donate 15 to 20 minutes of your time and help save lives,” says Johnson, 44. “That alone says it all.”
Johnson started donating blood more than 10 years ago after learning about CCHC’s blood needs and how the pints of blood stay on the Cape. Several years later, she inspired daughter Hailey, 25, and mother, Ellen, 70, to join her at the blood drives. They donate blood together on a regular basis, about every eight weeks.
Three generations of blood donors, Hailey Lewis, Terri Johnson and Ellen Drew, rolled up their sleeves at Falmouth Hospital in early February.
Johnson has O Negative blood type, which means her blood can be transfused to patients of any blood type. “This is another reason why I find donating so important,” says Johnson.
Daughter Hailey is O Positive and grandmother Ellen is A Negative.
“My daughter is deathly afraid of needles and blood,” says Johnson. “The fact that she does this at all says a lot.”
Blood donation appointments are typically available 15 minutes apart. So on this particular day, the family scheduled their appointments for 3 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Johnson says Cape Cod Healthcare’s new Blood Donor Portal makes it easier to schedule appointments and track when they last donated.
“Before the blood portal, you had to send an email (to the Blood Center staff) and wait for an email back,” says Johnson. “Now we can schedule our own appointments and find blood drives, which makes it a lot easier since there are three of us.”
The Falmouth residents make a day out of it and go out to lunch either before or after their blood donation (depending on their appointment time) at nearby Crabapples restaurant.
“I sometimes walk here because I live two miles down the road,” says Ellen. “I think it’s great to donate and help whoever needs it. We just enjoy doing it as a family.”
