For many, St. Patrick’s Day is a day to celebrate Irish heritage. For Tegan Rose, March 17th, 2017, was the start of her cancer treatment.
She turned 11 years old two days later.
“Her lucky four-leaf clover sticker didn’t turn out to be so lucky,” says Angela, Tegan’s mom, before correcting herself. “Actually, if you look at it, it turned out to be really lucky – we caught the cancer early.”
Although she’s now in remission, Tegan has to undergo chemotherapy. And with that comes a need for blood – a sometimes difficult task, because of her blood type: O negative. People with that blood type can only receive O negative blood, and because only 9 percent of Michigan’s population has that blood type, it’s been an issue for the preteen.
“We were at the hospital and Tegan needed blood, but we had to wait for someone to drive it over from Detroit,” says Angela. Tegan says that when she receives blood, it gives her “more energy.”
“We’re not putting our life on hold because of a silly thing called ‘leukemia,” says Angela.
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.