Blood donors help New Hampshire boy “power-up” to fight cancer

By Jennifer Costa, Red Cross regional communications director

“Dominic is probably one of the smartest and funniest kids I know. I am biased, but it still fits the bill.”

Dominic Brounstein

Daniel Brounstein is a proud dad. His son Dominic loves reading, coming up with witty puns and creating his own video games. The seven-year-old might also be Luigi’s – not Mario’s – biggest fan.

“He’s partial to Luigi because he thinks Mario gets all the credit,” Dominic’s dad explained. “He’s also starting to finally get the interest in outdoor activities. He’s long categorized himself as an ‘indoor cat,’ probably because of his experience with metastatic neuroblastoma since he was five. It makes it really hard to go out and do things.” 

In August 2023, the Brounstein family moved from Maryland to Stratham, New Hampshire where Dominic started kindergarten. A month into the school year, a school nurse noticed the five-year-old’s belly appeared distended – and recommended a check-up. Dominic’s parents took him to urgent care. 

“He was doing cartwheels a couple of days before we had him checked out – then he just stopped eating,” Daniel said. “We thought he may be constipated, but it turned out he had a 13-centimeter tumor in his abdomen on his adrenal gland.”

Dominic was diagnosed with high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma – a cancer associated with early childhood. It’s characterized by its aggressive nature and its tendency to spread.

“It ended up being Stage 4 cancer that had metastasized to around 70% of his body,” his dad explained. 

This type of cancer is difficult to treat and typically requires intensive, multi-modality therapy. For Dominic, that meant 18 months of multiple rounds of chemotherapy, resection surgery, radiation, stem cell transplants and immunotherapy. 

Dominic with parents Daniel and Lindsey

“He has been such a strong kid throughout the whole thing,” Daniel said.

While the aggressive treatment plan attacked Dominic’s cancer, it also wreaked havoc on his little body, impacting his hearing, adrenal function and blood count. 

“Dominic’s chemotherapy has been very intense. It resulted in what is called profound pancytopenia, which basically means he was short on red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. He couldn’t clot, for example,” Daniel said. “When his levels got too low, it was incredibly important that he was able to get blood products. And if he needed blood, he needed it right then because he was at high risk of serious complications or death. Dominic was very lucky to have that sort of thing on-hand within 10-15 minutes.”

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. It cannot be manufactured or stockpiled – and can only come from generous volunteer donors. For Dominic, the regular transfusions were life changing. 

“Without blood, he could have auditioned for Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” his dad said. “He was very pale, very shaky, very weak. And not even five minutes after the transfusion was over, he’d look at us and say, ‘I’m feeling so much better.’”

Cancer patients use nearly one quarter of the blood supply – more than patients fighting any other disease. Dominic needed blood, platelets and plasma.

“It is the difference between life and death. Donated blood is incalculably important. It is something that almost anyone can do or give. And everyone can try. You can literally be confident that you are saving someone’s life. And, for Dominic, that was not just theoretical. It was tangible. It was true,” Daniel said. “Knowing he had that access to blood products and that kind of support was just a huge boulder taken off our shoulders. It was something that made the Herculean task that he was going through, a little less daunting.”

In July, Dominic’s parents received welcome news: scans showed Dominic’s cancer was in remission! His tubes are out, he’s full of energy and ready to tackle school in the fall. He has officially entered the “maintenance” phase of treatment, and will continue to be monitored for a minimum of five years, assuming no relapses occur. 

“There is always the risk if you do chemotherapy or radiation of secondary neoplasms, of the cancer coming back – or new cancers rising years later. And those kids will need help again,” Daniel said.

He and his wife were blood donors prior to their son’s diagnosis – and say this experience has only strengthened their resolve to keep rolling up their sleeves. They’re now encouraging others to consider doing the same. In the U.S., 62% of the population is eligible to donate blood, yet only 3% do.

“There’s no schedule for when blood will be needed, except always,” Dominic’s dad emphasized. “It can’t be out of sight, out of mind. This is a way to make it real for yourself and the people around you. It’s a way to give back to your community in an incredibly tangible way that only costs a little bit of time.”

This year, two million people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer – that’s roughly three people every minute. For those undergoing chemotherapy, blood transfusions provide these patients with critical clotting factors, proteins and antibodies they need to help them fight back. 

“Dominic is one of the most important things that has ever happened to me in my life,”

Daniel said. “I can’t imagine where our lives would be without him – and blood donation is something that has made that kind of a difference in his life. Get on the schedule. Get checked out. Make sure you can donate.”

All blood types are needed, and donors who don’t know their blood type can learn it after donation. Book a time to give blood or platelets by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.