WTOP Summer of Hope Blood Drive
Join WTOP and the American Red Cross for our Summer of Hope Blood Drive Friday.
Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, August 7
Where: Macy’s Home Store at Oasis, Westfield Montgomery Mall, Bethesda
Why: The Red Cross urgently needs blood donations.
How: Walk-ups welcome or schedule your appointment.
Click here for more information.
WASHINGTON — A Bethesda child has a disease that’s diagnosed in only one to five boys a year in the nation. It’s called autoimmune hepatitis, and it causes a body to attack its own liver.
“Dvir was crashing,” says the 12-year old’s mother, Julie Sabag. “He was in acute liver failure. We didn’t understand what was going on.”
She says the transfusion that saved Dvir was made with antibodies from more than a thousand blood donations.
“I am so grateful for those donors out there,” she says.
Dvir’s grandmother, Carol Starley, “absolutely” wishes she could give blood, but isn’t allowed to because of the genetic disorder she passed on to Julie and Dvir: “It’s saved many lives. I have several family members who have had leukemia and constantly having to receive blood transfusions.”
Starley hopes telling Dvir’s story will inspire people to donate.
“There are people needing (clotting) factors and blood and all kinds of things to keep us going and enjoy this life we’ve been given,” Starley says.
