Eight-year-old Zedric Cook is a people person, so his mom wasn’t surprised that he liked being the face of a local blood drive.
“A lot of people were looking at him and taking pictures with him,” said his mom, Sherita Johnson of Gary. “He loved that. He was so surprised.”
Innovative Hematology hosted a blood drive Aug. 3 at Merrillville’s Higher Institute of Arts and Technology School with the Northwest Indiana Corvette Show. Carlene Heeter, program coordinator for Innovative Hematology CASCADE, said Cook was featured because he’s a patient with the organization.
Cook has sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that affects hemoglobin, which carries oxygen through the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. CASCADE helps sickle cell patients statewide.
Johnson learned Cook had the disease when he was one week old.
“I don’t think he really understands,” Johnson said. “He just knows that he’s sick, and then he knows he has to get his blood drawn. He knows that my other kids don’t go to the doctor as much as him.”
Each year, Innovative Hematology hosts about three blood drives statewide, in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Northwest Indiana. Heeter said they hosted it with the Corvette club’s event to encourage minority people to donate.
“Minorities are not educated on the fact that we need minority blood for our sickle cell patients,” Heeter said. “Minority blood works for minority patients better, and a lot of people don’t know that.”
About 25 people showed up for the blood drive, Heeter said, and 13 people donated blood. Six people were deferred, meaning they didn’t meet the donation requirements.
It was hot outside during the blood drive, Heeter said, which could have affected donation numbers.
“I look forward to doing it,” Heeter said. “It’s typically very hard to get people to donate blood.”
About 100,000 people in the U.S. have sickle cell disease, and of those, more than 90% are Black patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sickle cell patients get blood transfusions to reduce complications and symptoms of severe anemia. Johnson said Cook gets a transfusion at least once every three months, and he’s gotten one since the blood drive.
Cook also had COVID-19 after the blood drive, which Johnson said was difficult. It can be frustrating when Cook gets sick because the disease still affects him, Johnson said.
“He missed the whole first week of school,” she added. “I try to get him to understand, but it’s just hard because he’s still young.”
Since Innovative Hematology started hosting blood drives, the number of attendees has grown. Heeter has worked on the events for two years, and she’s proud of how the awareness they have raised.
The group might do more blood drives in the future, but it will depend on how busy they are, Heeter said.
“I try to feature patients, like Zedric, because they’re from the area,” she said. “People in that area might know him or his family, and they’ll come out to support Zedric.”
