In Indiana, only about half of one percent of donated blood comes from Black Americans -- leading to a major shortage in blood banks.
“In my lifetime, I’ve had several crisis, sickle cell crises," Hackett, a patient at Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center said.Sometimes these spells can last for five to seven days and she says they’re debilitating.
“Whenever we have a sickle cell crisis or severe pain, often times we need a blood transfusion," she said.According to the National Library of Medicine, about 1 in 500 African American children and 1 in 36,000 Hispanic American children. “It’s not enough just to have a letter type. When you’re a minority, you have antigens in your blood. We need those antigens to match up with our blood better, so when we need a blood donation, the body tends to accept from a minority versus a non-minority," IHTC CASCADE Program Coordinator Carlene Heeter said.If you receive a donation from someone who has different antigens than you, your body may see it as an invader it needs to fight off.
Blood that closely matches that of a patient is less likely to be rejected and less likely to cause complications after a transfusion.In Indiana, only about half of one percent of donated blood comes from Black Americans.“There’s a lot of myths. People are afraid. They don’t know what they are doing with my blood or it could be because historically what minorities have went through," Heeter said.You could help treat patients like Hackett.
“It’s not just for people my age, it’s for babies to elderly people. That you would just come out. We really need your help," Hackett said.Here are the details:
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