Special July 11 Blood Drive in San Jose Will Benefit Stanford Blood Center

February 2010
Attention News Desk: Press Release (for immediate release)
MEDIA CONTACT:
Michele Hyndman (650) 723-8237
mhyndman@stanford.edu
MEDIA CONTACT FOR CTDN:
Paula Valle (213) 612-4927
or (323) 253-6431
pvalle@jdipr.com

STANFORD, Calif. —The Stanford Blood Center, the California Transplant Donor Network and the National Marrow Donor Program will team up for a blood drive and an organ, tissue and marrow registration event Feb. 19 at the San Ramon home of 13-year-old heart transplant recipient Kevin Murphy.

Kevin’s health declined rapidly over the course of one month in early 2009 due to dilated cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle, and his only chance for survival was an immediate heart transplant. Feb. 19 marks one year since the Murphy family found out that Kevin, then 12, would receive a heart transplant the next day.

“Holding our ‘pay it forward’ blood drive is a way for us to celebrate the life of Kevin’s donor and encourage others to donate blood, and sign-up to be an organ and tissue donor,” said Kevin’s mom, Dianna Murphy. “Without a new heart and blood available when Kevin needed it, he wouldn’t be with us today. We’re so grateful.”

Kathy Clark, 50, a volunteer coordinator for California Transplant Donor Network, will be on hand to answer questions and help people register. Clark received a liver transplant and blood transfusion in 2005. “Originally my transplant surgery was suppose to take eight or more hours because they were short on O-negative blood,” Clark said. “Fortunately, an O-negative donor walked in the door just as I was being wheeled into surgery, making it possible for me to have my needed blood transfusion and be out of surgery in four hours.”

Clark encouraged area residents to go online to http://www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org to become an organ and tissue donor.

The Stanford Blood Center has three locations in Palo Alto and Mountain View, and holds blood drives throughout the Bay Area daily. The blood center serves patients at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Palo Alto Medical Foundation Clinic, El Camino Hospital, El Camino Los Gatos Hospital, the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, the Livermore Veterans Affairs Hospital, O’Connor Hospital and three freestanding local surgery centers. Visit https://bloodcenter-stg.stanford.edu for more information.

The California Transplant Donor Network helps 160 hospitals in northern and central California and northern Nevada offer the option of organ and tissue donation to families whose loved ones have died, coordinates deceased organ recovery and placement, and provides public education with the hope that every resident will become a donor. For more information, visit http://www.ctdn.org or call (888) 570-9400.

The National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match FoundationSM are nonprofit organizations dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants. More information is available at www.marrow.org.

WHAT: “Pay it forward” blood drive
WHO: The Murphy family invites the media and people interested in blood, bone marrow and organ and tissue donations to attend the event
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 19, from 2 to 7 p.m.
WHERE: 209 Hat Creek Court, San Ramon, CA, 94582

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The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation’s top 10 medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.