SBC Stories connects blood donors and patients though storytelling, with new weekly articles on our blog, HemoBLOGin, featured patient stories and videos, and publications. Our patient stories inspire and move us to be of service the most vulnerable in our community, and our donor stories illustrate the many ways donors make a difference in patients’ lives every day.
HemoBLOGin — The Stanford Blood Center Blog (Read All)
¡Hablamos Español!
¿Primera vez donando sangre? Encuentre más información sobre el proceso de donación y a quién podría ayudar, en nuestra página de donantes por primera vez. Puede traducir cualquier página de nuestro sitio web al español eligiendo del menú desplegable “Select Language” en la parte superior de nuestro botón “Home” en la barra del menú principal. ¿Prefieres…
FAQ on Novel Coronavirus and Blood Donation
We would like to take this opportunity to provide some additional information about coronavirus and blood donation. Our hope is that people interested in donating blood consider all of the facts of the situation, namely that COVID-19 does not pose any special risk to blood donors during the donation process or from attending blood drives….
Joe’s Story: Firefighter, COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Donor, Community Hero
Battalion Chief Joe Novelli has been a firefighter in San Mateo county for roughly 33 years. Having worked through many dangerous fires and emergency situations, Joe is no stranger to saving lives of individuals in the community. Now, after becoming the first firefighter in the county to be diagnosed with and eventually recover from COVID-19,…
Patient Stories (Read All)
Nicole’s Story: Fighting Aplastic Anemia with “Little Bags of Life”
Closer to Home: When Blood Donation Gets Personal
When Rachel Ren* was a junior, she was thrilled at the opportunity to give blood at her high school’s SBC mobile drive. Rachel had never had an experience with blood donation before — never had a family member need blood that she could remember, never needed blood herself — but she felt called to help….
Nick’s Story: Open Your Heart to Donation
HOW BLOOD DONORS SUPPORTED A 15-YEAR-OLD’S LIVE-SAVING OPEN-HEART SURGERY On October 4, 2014, Nick Farrell* was riding high celebrating a momentous occasion: his 15th birthday. One week later, on October 11, he was grappling with a very different life-altering event: a critical surgery to fix the large hole in his heart. Though Nick and his…
Donor Stories (Read All)
Joe’s Story: Firefighter, COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Donor, Community Hero
Battalion Chief Joe Novelli has been a firefighter in San Mateo county for roughly 33 years. Having worked through many dangerous fires and emergency situations, Joe is no stranger to saving lives of individuals in the community. Now, after becoming the first firefighter in the county to be diagnosed with and eventually recover from COVID-19,…
Reflections of a COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Donor
By Rick Singer, guest blogger and COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor I know we’re all feeling it. I know we’re all cooped up, messed up and uptight. But I am also painfully aware that, as worn out as we all are during the biggest human crisis of our lifetimes, there are very real strides being taken,…
600 Donations, 39 Years in Radiation Therapy and Countless Patient Lives Transformed Through Service
In late February, Belmont resident Fred van den Haak gave his 600th blood donation with Stanford Blood Center. Though currently in his 70s, Fred has been a dedicated blood donor and highly service-oriented since he was young. “My first donation was a very interesting one,” Fred recalled. As a young man, he had enlisted in…