WCU organization hosts a blood drive on World Blood Donor Day

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - According to Vitalant’s website, the organization has less than a needed four-day supply of most blood types.

This shortage is why the student nursing association at William Carey held a blood drive on Tuesday, June 14 - World Blood Donor Day.

Carey volunteers partnered up with Vitalant to bring a blood donor truck to the Hattiesburg campus for most of Tuesday afternoon. The vice president of the student association, Aaron Smith, said they wanted to bring awareness to the national blood shortage.

“Blood is life, I could say it like that,” said Smith. “Without blood, you could have anemia, there’s patients that have sickle cell which is the sickling of a cell. They are constantly coming into different facilities to have blood transfusions. Even the little portion of a pint that is given… it goes a long way so they are always constantly giving transfusions to replenish them.”

Vitalant said blood donations were more than 4-thousand units short in the month of May while the need for blood has only increased.

Anyone interested in giving blood, can always make an appointment on the Vitalant site.

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