Sickle cell disease has been part of Breanna’s life since the day she was born. She spent her childhood in and out of the hospital, receiving medications and blood transfusions to help ease her symptoms, including severe pain in her knee.

But it wasn’t until June 2022 that Breanna had a real scare. After seeing a doctor for the pain in her knee, she wound up in the hospital, where she had a heart attack and stroke and was in a coma. “All I remember is that when I woke up, I couldn’t get up and I couldn’t write,” she says. “I don’t remember a lot of it.”

Now, she receives red blood cell exchanges every 6-8 weeks that help with her sickle cell disease, but also leave her feeling exhausted. She encourages others to donate blood and give hope to sickle cell patients like her. “It helps others, especially sickle cell patients,” she says. “If we don’t get blood, something bad could happen. Donating blood is doing something good for others.”

People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.

We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.