Vitalant hosts Arizona's largest blood drive

PHOENIX (FOX 10) - It's always a good time to save a life - that's why Vitalant, one of the nation's oldest and largest non-profit blood service providers, held the state's largest blood drives on January 6.

"We've just come off the most difficult 10 days of the year to maintain our state's blood supply," said Sue Thew for Vitalant. "A time when donations plummeted by more than 23 percent, but what a lot of people don't realize is that more blood transfusions are required in January more than any other time of year."

Nobody knows the life-saving power of blood donations like David Rees, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017. For the next nine months, Rees would fight for his life.

"I was going through treatments and medications and the biggest help for me was...blood donors," said Rees.

In less than a year, Rees received 39 blood transfusions. Those 39 strangers helped Rees survive - a fact that still brings tears to his eyes.

Because of this, Rees says he was able to get married, see another birthday and have his cancer in remission.

"You can literally take 30 minutes today and save someone's life," Rees said. "Where else can you do that besides donating blood?"

Online: https://vitalant.org/Home.aspx