A Birthday Tradition That Saves Lives: Whitby’s Annual Blood Drive
By Sabrina Benedetti, Red Cross writer “We needed to get blood from the lab into the ICU quickly. If it hadn't been there, we would have lost him. That's the case, for patients around the world every day.” On June 25, 2011, Whitby “Whit” Tousignant was born to Peter Tousignant and Rebeccah Schaffner in Portland, Maine. Doctors diagnosed the newborn with an uncommon and severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which involves the underdevelopment of the left ventricle. Because of this condition, Whit had his first open-heart surgery a few days after he was born. It was the first of many for the baby boy, and each surgery required more donated blood. His dad Peter recalls, “There were a couple of instances when he would be bleeding internally after surgery and had to get rushed back in and needed blood. So, we had firsthand experience with the very real need for blood.” Despite immense challenges so early on, Whit did not allow his diagnosis to define h...
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