Last year, Tracy Fox’s connection to the American Red Cross came full circle.
As a 15-year-old growing up in Indiana, Tracy first formed a relationship with the Red Cross as she trained to become a lifeguard. In 2011, she became a Red Cross employee, and has held a variety of roles ever since. From her start as a communicator for blood services in Indiana and Ohio to now working as a marketing programs communicators director, Tracy knows the need for blood is constant and every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.
In November, Tracy attended an event on Capitol Hill and then returned to Red Cross Headquarters. As she left, she stepped into a crosswalk and was hit by a bus from behind. Tracy spent months in the hospital, and eventually developed an infection affecting her left foot. She made the decision to have it amputated, but on Christmas Day, her doctors informed her the infection was causing her hemoglobin levels to drop. She needed a blood transfusion, and without it, her surgery may not be possible.
“Everything shifted very quickly and became critical and urgent, and literally a matter of life and death,” said Tracy.
Despite the concern, Tracy’s mind jumped to the Red Cross. She wondered if her unit of blood would come from a generous Red Cross donor and says she kept asking nurses as she waited for it to arrive. When they hung the unit of blood on her IV pole, she proudly watched and recognized the Red Cross label.
“In that instant, I knew I had come full circle, from promoting blood drives and encouraging those donations and sharing stories, to now being a recipient,” said Tracy.
Tracy received just one unit of blood, which was all she needed to stabilize and prepare for surgery. Each day, the Red Cross needs to collect about 12,500 blood donations to meet the needs of accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and many more, at about 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers across the county.
In August, Tracy will return home to visit family and host a blood drive in Avon, Indiana. Tracy says there’s no place she’d rather host a drive, than in the community where she grew up and formed her first connection to the Red Cross.
“This will be a ‘Back Home Again in Indiana’ kind of thing,” said Tracy.
Tracy’s goal for the blood drive is simple: to recognize the difference that just one unit of blood can make for patients in need and encourage donors to help save someone’s life. When generous volunteer blood donors roll up a sleeve to donate, they can help change a life.
“It’s all about putting some positivity back out in the world because there are a million reasons I shouldn’t be here,” said Tracy. “A million things happened that allow me to still be here.”
You can give blood in Tracy’s honor at a blood drive on Tuesday, August 27 from 12 to 6 p.m. at Harmony of Avon Baptist Church, located at 5693 Broyles Rd in Avon, IN 46123. People can visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) to schedule a blood donation appointment using sponsor code justoneunit. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states, weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood.