3rd Annual Sickle Cell Awareness Blood Drive in Honor of Lia

(Miami, FL. September 26, 2017)  Cox Media Group Miami is sponsoring a blood drive to raise awareness of the crucial need for blood donations to sustain the lives of patients, like Miami Lakes’ resident Lia Ottinot, who are fighting sickle cell disease.

Generally, healthy people age 16 or older who weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood. To learn more about the importance of blood donation and how donors can target the power of their blood type, visit oneblood.org.

Thirteen year old Lia has a positive outlook despite her daunting challenge. She lives with sickle cell disease, sometimes referred to as sickle cell anemia, a disorder that primarily affects African Americans and some Hispanics. She says, “I will not give up on myself.”  Lia’s life depends on blood donations to keep her alive.

Sickle cell disease frequently causes symptoms called “pain crisis” that can be triggered by exercise, which means Lia, a straight-A student, can’t play sports or take part in strenuous activities. Instead she focuses her creativity into drawing and painting. Since Lia continues to receive blood transfusions, blood from donors who are genetically similar to her helps prevent the creation of antibodies that result in the rejection of incompatible blood. For Lia, and many other people with sickle cell disease, this means that blood donations from the African American community are vital to find a best match and avoid transfusion reactions. September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month, which calls attention to a genetic disease that affects about one in in 500 African-American newborns and one out of every 1,000 to 1,400 Hispanic babies born each year.

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