When Sarah Smith’s youngest daughter, Faith, passed away in November 2023, she knew she wanted to carry on her daughter’s legacy.
“The day she passed away, me and my husband Daniel looked at each other and said we had to stick together, and we had to keep her memory alive,” said Sarah.
Faith was born just eight months earlier with several health complications, including two heart defects, a cleft palate, a condition that impacted her colon and more. She spent 91 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, underwent several surgeries and received blood transfusions.
“It would make such a big difference for her and post-transfusion, how much it would perk her up,” said Sarah. “We also knew with all the surgeries she would have coming up, she would likely need more.”
Faith was scheduled to have another heart surgery when she turned one year old. As a result, Sarah says they spent a lot of time in the cardiac intensive care unit at the hospital. She often wondered what would happen if the blood supply was low and babies and young patients couldn’t receive the blood products they needed. Blood cannot be stockpiled, and every day, the Red Cross must collect more than 12,000 blood donations for patients at hospitals nationwide.
“We always wanted to pay her blessings forward, so we always try to find ways at holidays or milestones or birthdays to pay it back because we don’t think we can ever pay back what Faith gave us.”
In March, Sarah, Daniel and their three older children hosted a Red Cross blood drive at their church in Henderson, Kentucky, to commemorate what would have been Faith’s second birthday.
“We realized the impact that we all could have when we came together,” said Sarah.
Sarah says the blood drive was fun and healing, as they shared stories and came together to make a difference in honor of Faith. The blood drive was a huge success, as 10 first time donors rolled up a sleeve to donate and the drive exceeded its goal.
“It was so easy to be able to do something so big,” said Sarah. “I’ve told dozens of people, if you want to do any sort of community outreach or give back, do a blood drive,” said Faith.
Each day, the Red Cross hosts approximately 500 blood drives to help ensure blood products are available whenever and wherever they are needed. If you’re interested in hosting a Red Cross blood drive, click here to learn more and apply.
Written by Regional Communications Manager Janie Bohlmann.