Blue Earth boy rallies for blood donations

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BLUE EARTH — Seven-year-old Ezra Kono is a ride junkie, his mother says. He loves all the rides at Valleyfair.

It’s a light spot in a challenging life, as Ezra battles hypoplastic left heart syndrome. His mother learned while at 18 weeks pregnant that her baby had an underdeveloped left side of his heart.

“At first I didn’t quite grasp the reality of it,” Amanda Guthmiller said. “I just thought, we’ll get through this. And then they sent us over to do a fetal echocardiogram of his heart and that’s when they told us his left side was underdeveloped and that he had hypoplastic left heart syndrome.”

A blood drive will be held in Ezra’s honor noon to 5 p.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blue Earth. There are 48 slots for blood donations, Guthmiller said, and in the last four to five years of doing blood drives in Ezra’s name, they have filled the roster.

The annual blood drive is always timed around Ezra’s Oct. 14 birthday.

“We still have quite a few open slots, so hopefully we get those filled and get some walk-ins the day of,” his mother said. “There’s a huge blood shortage right now, they were saying.”

Indeed, the American Red Cross confirms as much, saying Ezra’s blood drive is relevant as the agency is experiencing a national blood shortage.

“Patients like Ezra have an ongoing need for blood products, so it’s important to have blood on the shelves,” Sue Thesenga, the American Red Cross’ regional communications manager, stated in a news release. “Each year, his family hosts this drive close to his birthday to help build awareness of the constant need for blood. With the shortage, more donors are needed now to ensure patients at hospitals across the country continue to receive critical medical care.”

Ezra has received 78 blood transfusions, which his mother credits with saving his life again and again as he battles his congenital heart defect. He’s been treated at Mayo Clinic Rochester and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

“It’s a huge thing,” Guthmiller said. “It’s had a huge impact on our lives. Without blood transfusions, he wouldn’t be here today and I know there are so many other kids, and adults for that matter … they’re lifesaving. Cardiac kids need so many transfusions.”

Ezra’s blood type is A positive. As of today, he’s doing quite well, his mother reports. He attends kindergarten in Blue Earth and enjoys watching his classmates. Ezra is non-verbal and uses either a wheelchair or a walker, and he thrives on music and doing things outside.

His family of four includes mom, dad Eric Kono and his brother 15-year-old Kaden Guthmiller.

“He’s doing really well from a cardiac standpoint today,” Guthmiller said about Ezra. “We just recently went down to Texas Children’s. It’s kind of a team effort with Mayo Clinic Rochester.”

“Sometimes at school you’ll see him mimic the other kids, and it’s cute,” she said.

Once in a while Ezra stays home from school if classmates are ill. “We decide whether it’s safe or not for him to be at school,” Guthmiller said. 

His mother urges others to help support the blood drive Friday.

“We’re celebrating another year of Ezra by trying to save lives,” she said. “We can help save other people’s lives as others have done for him. It’s just a great thing to do. Come out. It doesn’t take long and one donation can save up to three people’s lives.”

Currently at physical therapy Ezra is learning to sit down and stand up independently. “He’s walking longer stretches with his walker,” his mother said.

A lot of kids like Ezra wind up needing heart transplants. And their life span might be shortened. But Guthmiller said he’s doing great and “learning new stuff every day. He’s incredibly smart.”

If you can’t get to Ezra’s blood drive Friday but would like to donate blood, make an appointment by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-733-2767.

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