Lifesaving blood and the “full-circle” moment for a young Mainer dedicating her life to helping those who continue to help her survive

By Jennifer Costa, regional communications director

Jade and Mandy Howard

“I live with my sister. She's my best friend and my biggest cheerleader.”

At 23 and 21, Jade Howard and her sister, Mandy, are pretty much inseparable. Two years ago, the pair moved from Oregon in search of the “best little big city” and they agreed to give Portland, Maine, a shot. Jade says she and Mandy have loved exploring the Pine Tree State, hiking and checking out the vast variety of local events. 

“We do absolutely everything together,” Jade says.

There’s one more thing this sister team tackles together…

“She takes me to all my appointments and comes in with me for every blood transfusion,” Jade explains. 

Jade lives with beta thalassemia intermedia – a genetic, inherited blood disorder. She was diagnosed at just four years old.

“Originally, they thought it was leukemia because my numbers were so wonky,” Jade says. 

Beta thalassemia reduces the body’s ability to produce normal adult hemoglobin, which is part of the red blood cell. Symptoms can include: moderate to severe anemia, fatigue, tiredness, weakness, pale skin, jaundice, slow or delayed growth, bone abnormalities and an enlarged spleen. The severity of the disorder can vary greatly. Jade’s father and grandmother, who also have thalassemia, have never needed a blood transfusion, but for Jade, transfusions of donated blood keep her alive.

“Throughout my whole life, I have been getting blood transfusions, and it's just been kind of slowly more and more frequent. It was like once every couple of years when I was younger. Once I got into high school, like once a year, and then, once I turned 19, it was once every six months to once every three months. For the past year, it's been once every six weeks.”

Jade Howard, blood recipient

The transfusions help treat the anemia associated with thalassemia and manage complications from ineffective red blood cell production. Careful monitoring through regular lab work helps Jade’s medical team determine when it’s time for her next transfusion, but Jade says her body usually makes it clear.

“My skin and my eyes literally get yellow. I look very jaundice. I get so tired, so dizzy, and consistently start having blurred vision,” she explains.

These serve as warning signs to immediately call her doctor’s office. 

“They schedule me for my transfusions that same day or next day. When I get them, I'm tired. And then the next day, I'm a whole different person. It's great. I wish I could just constantly have a blood bag hooked up to my bed,” she jokes. “I have so much energy back. The blood transfusions bring my motivation and my life back into me.”

Growing up with such a keen awareness about the blood supply, where it comes from and its lifesaving power, has played a significant role in Jade’s career choice.

“The only thing I really wanted out of my career was something that I was proud of and felt good about doing. For me, it feels so amazing for everything to come full circle,” she says.

That’s because Jade is a phlebotomist with the American Red Cross, working at our blood donation center in Portland, Maine.

“Getting to see the kind of people who donate blood is awesome. We honestly have the sweetest donor base ever,” she says. “It's really cool getting to be on both sides of this process since, obviously, I can't donate, so being a phlebotomist is my part to giving back for everything I have taken because this is going to be something I will do for the rest of my life, and my need for blood is only going to be more consistent.”

Jade says she loves the opportunity to get to know blood donors on a personal level, often swapping life updates with her regulars, who know all about her blood journey.

“We are so tight with our donors. We know everything about their lives, and they know everything about ours,” she says. “With our regular blood donors, I’m like, ‘We have so much to catch up on because I haven’t seen you in 56 days.’”

Fifty-six days is the minimum time required between whole blood donations. Many of the donors Jade works with are committed to maximizing their impact and will routinely come to give every eight weeks. 

For her regular platelet donors, the bond is even tighter, as she tends to see them weekly for their 3-hour donation appointments. It’s a routine Jade knew well, even before becoming a phlebotomist. Her grandmother, Marcie Howard, has been a lifelong blood donor, often joking she switched from blood to platelet donations because she could give more often, replacing what her granddaughter was taking. As a child, Jade took her donation sidekick role seriously.

Jade and Marcia Howard

“That was something that really meant a lot to me,” Jade said of attending donation appointments with her grandmother. “At that point, I wasn't old enough to work at the Red Cross yet, but she was my biggest encourager to start working here.” 

Jade says she loves being a phlebotomist because it allows her to be part of a humanitarian community filled with selfless generosity – heroes for all kinds of patients in need, including herself.

“Giving blood is one of the biggest things you can volunteer, that's not money, but makes so much more of an impact than just money,” Jade explains. “Way more people need it than you think. I feel like when people think of blood recipients, they think of people on their deathbed. I like to tell those people, I need blood. I'm a very bubbly, talkative person who has a lot of energy. I work hard and I feel like people don't realize that normal people, like me, need it.”

Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood – and in our Northern New England Region, the Red Cross must collect nearly 400 whole blood donations a day to meet patient demand. Blood cannot be manufactured. It cannot be saved up for an emergency. It can only come from generous, volunteer donors who choose to give the gift of life each time they roll up a sleeve. 

“Our donors genuinely just want to make a difference and are deeply committed to doing so. They're amazing. I wouldn't be alive without them, so, I mean, all I can do is be grateful.”

Become a blood donor today and help save a life. Eligible individuals are encouraged to schedule a blood or platelet donation appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800- RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).