It’s a cold January day in Highland, Indiana, but Cheryl Bennett is still smiling and greeting blood donors as they walk through the door at the Great Chicago Blood Drive.
Cheryl is volunteering alongside her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters, ensuring donors have a smooth and positive experience at the blood drive. As generous blood donors walk through the doors, they know they’re helping patients who need blood transfusions, but they don’t realize Cheryl is one of the people they could be helping.
“I try to stay upbeat and happy,” said Cheryl. “If you didn’t know me, you wouldn’t know I had it.”
Cheryl is living with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder. Sickle cell disease distorts soft and round red blood cells and turns them hard and crescent shaped.
“It’s kind of hard to describe because if people see me, I look normal, but they don’t know what I’m going through,” said Cheryl.
For people with sickle cell disease, blood has difficulty flowing smoothly and carrying oxygen to the rest of the body, which can lead to severe pain, tissue and organ damage, anemia and strokes. Blood transfusions can help alleviate some of the symptoms, and Cheryl says she receives transfusions every few months.
“It varies from day to day, but I would say most days, I have pain,” said Cheryl.
Despite the pain she experiences, Cheryl tries to stay positive and active. She works as a pharmacist at a hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, and says one of her favorite things to do is travel. Soon, Cheryl is heading out for her next adventure to visit Argentina then Antarctica.
“Then, I will have been on all seven continents,” said Cheryl.
Throughout her life, Cheryl estimates she has received hundreds of blood transfusions and is grateful for generous blood donors. She gives back by supporting local blood drives and encouraging people at her church to give blood during their annual blood drive.
“Blood is so important, not just for people with sickle cell,” said Cheryl. “You could be in a car accident or having a baby. There’s so many reasons people need blood, and they don’t realize it until they need it or someone close to them needs it.”
People can roll up a sleeve to help make a difference for patients in need. Visit RedCrossBlood.org to find a blood donation appointment near you.
Written by Janie Bohlmann, regional communications manager.