‘Without generous donors I wouldn’t be alive’: Blood donors an urgent need in Arizona amid shortage

PHOENIX — Imagine living each month as if it were your last.

“Without generous donors taking the time to donate, I wouldn’t be alive,” Mary Jo Fasini said. 

Fasini seemed healthy when she was born, but around the age of 5, Fasini was found to have Beta Thalessemia Intermedia. The disease is genetic and reduces the body’s ability to produce healthy red blood cells.

“It leaves my body in a state of chronic anemia,” she said. “So, since I was about 5 years old, I started getting sick and needed transfusions here and there. I had to have my spleen removed when I was 9 years old. It weighed nine pounds which normally it weighs about six ounces.”

In order for Fasini to live a healthy life, she would need to get blood transfusions every month. If she skipped or stretched too long between transfusions the outcome would be devastating.

“Without generous donors I wouldn’t be able to do the things I always dreamed about doing like being a nurse and being a mom, “she said. “Those were my goals in life.”

Fasini is one of many statewide who rely on blood donations to live. She knows first hand that every donation counts.

“You just don’t know who’ll need blood or if you yourself will need blood,” Fasini said. “It’s literally nothing out of your day. If you can do it, so many people need it.

Currently the state of Arizona is facing a critical shortage of blood donations. The state’s largest non-profit community blood provider, Vitalant, is reporting a 25% drop in donations since May. 

Sue Thew, the Communications Manager, said the impacts can be devastating.

“We are a provider that supplies 100% of the hospitals in Maricopa County and 90% statewide,” she said. “A safe blood supply is to have about four days worth on shelves and that’s important because it takes 24-36 hours to test and process the blood before it can be released to a hospital for patient transfusion. Right now, we’re hovering between a two–three-day blood supply for most blood types.” 

O-, the universal blood type, is also currently at about a two-day supply. Thew said it’s crucial that people take this shortage seriously.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “There are so many people depending on blood donors. Every day in Arizona it takes about 600 blood donors to meet the needs of hospitals we serve. Vitalant supplies more than 65 hospitals right here across Arizona, and people can’t wait until someone donates blood to receive a transfusion. It’s the blood that’s already on shelves that saves lives.”

Thew said there are many reasons for the current shortage. First, the pandemic closed many organizations and businesses that blood centers relied on for donations. Even now, three years after its peak, they’re feeling the impacts. Another reason is the largest source of blood donations come from college and high school sponsored blood drives.

“Teenagers provide one out of every six blood donations,” Thew said. “They are so important for our blood supply and this time of year we don’t have those drives to depend on. Also, more people are on the roads and highways which creates more chances for an accident.”

“It’s scary,” Fasini said.

When we spoke with Fasini, who takes a specific type of O- blood, the bins for her blood type were empty. She said seeing that creates a feeling that can’t be put into words.

“There are times where we’re in a critical shortage and when I hear that on the news my heart drops,” she said. “Because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get that blood. I always say if I could hug every donor I would. Please go donate. It takes nothing out of your day and you don’t know the impact you’ll have on so many lives.”

Donating blood is easy. You have to be at least 16 years old and healthy. From start to finish, it’ll take about an hour (most of which is eating cookies). To schedule an appointment go here.

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