OSU victorious over Michigan in annual Blood Battle

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Ohio State University has clenched its second consecutive win over the University of Michigan in their annual Blood Battle competition.

This year’s battle of the 42nd in the competition’s history, and it ended on Nov. 22.

The final tally of total collected pints were:

• Ohio State: 1,732
• Michigan: 1,469

OSU edged out Michigan by 263 pints this year, whereas last year they won by only 77 pints.

This year, the Buckeyes hosted 48 individual blood drives during the four-week competition period, where more than 1,000 people donated blood for the cause.

All blood donations collected in the Blood Battle by OSU stays local in the Columbus area, benefitting hospital patients across OSU medical campuses.

Of the local donors for Ohio State, more than 1,000 donated blood.

“We are so proud of our Ohio State and central Ohio communities, coming together to play a role in this friendly off-the-field competition,” said Dr. Naeem Ali, medical director of University Hospital, and director of critical care clinical operations at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “The selfless act by so many donors has the potential to make a lifesaving impact for thousands of our patients.”

However, the need for life-saving treatments involving blood do not stop now that the Blood Battle is completed.

Here are some blood donation facts, courtesy of Versiti:

• One blood donation can save up to three lives
• Every two seconds, someone needs lifesaving blood
• 75% of the population will need blood at some point in their lives
• Blood donation appointments take less than one hour to complete

Versiti also holds mobile blood drives across central Ohio throughout the year. Donors can register for future blood drives on their website.