Blood Drive Honors Local Woman

It’s been one year since the tragic motorcycle accident that seriously injured local woman Mariah Swingle. The Muskingum Valley Red Cross is holding it’s second annual blood drive in her honor.

Following her accident, Swingle received 25 units of blood, so her family wanted to hold a blood drive as a way to give back to those who helped save her life.

With the success of last years drive, Richard Dayton of the American Red Cross said they were eager to do it again.

“Come out and donate, we’d love to have to you out,” he said. “We’ll have a snack table, you can have some snacks when you’re done donating. Come out and donate, it’s a good thing.”

Dayton said summer remains a high trauma season so blood is in greater demand.

“Well, blood is an ongoing thing, people do not realize that when you go to a hospital you expect blood to be there, it has to be there and that’s part of our job at the Red Cross to collect blood and supply it to the hospitals,” Dayton said. “People don’t realize that there are multiple trips that go to the hospitals. Blood is ongoing, it has a shelf life, we can’t keep it forever, it has to be collected, used, and then we need more to replenish the supply.”

The drive is this Friday from 2 to 8 p.m. at Zane State College. You can register in person or go online at www.redcrossblood.org.