Tracy's Story

 

Last November, Tracy Fox stepped into a crosswalk and her life changed forever.

Tracy, one of our employees who works in Government Relations, was leaving an event at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. when she was hit by a bus. The wheels caught her left leg, and when she woke up in the hospital, she learned the damage was so extensive that she’d need an amputation.

Unfortunately, Tracy developed an infection and her hemoglobin levels dropped so low that surgery wasn’t possible. That’s when her care team ordered a blood transfusion.

“The minute my doctor said, ‘We’re going to do a transfusion,’ I asked if it would come from the Red Cross,” Tracy said. “As soon as they hung that unit of blood, sure enough, it said, ‘Generously donated to the American Red Cross.’ That one unit of blood saved my life because I was able to have surgery, eliminate the infection, and go on to recover.”

Tracy received her blood transfusion on Christmas Day, the best Christmas present she says she’s ever gotten. She spent January in the hospital and was eventually able to return home, continue rehabilitation, and receive a prosthetic leg.

Tracy says she’s living proof of something that's often said here at the Red Cross: Every blood donation makes a difference.

In her words:

“I received one unit of blood, but that ‘just one unit’ made the difference between life and death for me. I had a successful outcome because someone thought to go and donate that one unit of blood. It really can be one unit that changes a person’s life in an instant. I’m especially grateful to that person who donated and changed my life — and all who donate.

“It’s such a journey, and every day is a new learning. First, it was how to get out of a hospital bed. Then, how do I hop around with a walker. Once I was fitted for my prosthetic leg, that was a whole new journey. I do therapy three times a week to work on strength, balance and gait. At 50 years old, I have found new muscles I didn’t know existed!

"Through it all, I’ve been reminded just how lucky I am in a million ways. If I had been just one or two steps further in the crosswalk, it would have been a totally different outcome. If just one person reads my story and goes to donate blood, that’s what I want and why I keep pushing forward.”

Just one unit of blood could save a life. Make an appointment to donate blood: https://rdcrss.org/3y5zBdZ

Middle Tennessee Woman Honored for Saving a Life

Lisa Williams and Joel Sullivan, regional executive officer for the American Red Cross Tennessee Region

Red Cross Certificate of Merit presented to Lisa Williams  

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 2, 2024 — An average workday for one local woman turned into her using skills she learned at an American Red Cross training in First Aid and CPR to save the life of one of her employees. Lisa Williams was walking through her business’s warehouse when she heard a man had passed out in a restroom. Not thinking twice about it, her instincts kicked in after taking the CPR class recently at the Nashville Area Chapter Red Cross offices. 

  

“Several employees were yelling does anyone know CPR,” Williams said. “I told them yes! I went in there and he was turning blue. We called 9-1-1 and had them on the phone. I immediately started CPR and he gurgled, and we finally got a faint pulse. The EMTs were there quickly, and I have heard he is doing well, which is amazing.” For this heroic and lifesaving action, she received the Red Cross Certificate of Merit in a ceremony during the Red Cross Lifesaver Luncheon last month. 

  

The Certificate of Merit is the highest award given by the Red Cross to individuals who save or sustain a life using skills learned in a Red Cross Training Services course. 

  

“We’re extremely proud to present a Certificate of Merit to Lisa Williams,” said Joel Sullivan, regional executive officer for the Tennessee Region. “Her actions exemplify our mission to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.” 

  

Williams was thankful for the class she took and knows that was the difference between life and death for her employee. “If you were the one who needed CPR, and I was the one who took a few hours out of my day to take the CPR class, I could save your life. I could not do that without that Red Cross class.” 

“I am not a hero,” she added. “I was just given the tool to save a life. I am thankful I was there with the knowledge I had to act when it was needed most.” 

 

Red Cross training gives people the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass. 

  

If you or someone you know has used skills and knowledge learned in an American Red Cross Training Services course to help save or sustain the life of another individual, visit LifesavingAwards.org to nominate, recognize, or be inspired. 

 

About the American Red Cross:  

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.  

Good Intentions to Effective Actions

Kara Greer

 

By Mariwyn Evans, Red Cross volunteer

MURFREESBORO, Tenn., April 25, 2024 - “I’m 57 years old, and I still like to believe that people have good intentions,” says Kara Greer, a mother of six, grandmother of three, marathon runner, and cyber security expert from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. “If you spread the word to enough people, they will take action.” 

 

Greer begin spreading the word at 15-years-old, when the then class president of McClure North High School in St. Louis, MO organized her first blood drive for the students. “My mother was a professor of nursing at St. Louis Community College, and I volunteered as a Candy Striper at her clinical facility at County Hospital. I saw firsthand that there were people in great need,” says Greer.  

 

Why focus on donating blood? “Science can replicate some parts of blood, but there is still no identical replication for whole blood. That is why I continue to donate every 56 days,” explains Greer. These days, she often takes along a friend or two from her running club or her church to donate at the Red Cross facility in Murfreesboro. Greer also posts photos of every donation on her Facebook and Instagram feeds with #SaveaLife and #RedCross hashtags to encourage others to give. 

 

Not every donation is so routine. While visiting relatives over Christmas, Greer drove 12 hours back to St. Louis to give blood to the three-day-old baby of a childhood friend. The newborn needed multiple transfusions during open heart surgery. “If I hadn’t been in the habit of giving blood, it might have seemed impossible, but to me it was just natural to donate,” she says.  

 

Decades later, Greer again jumped into action when a fellow employee at Schneider Electric in Franklin, TN, became gravely ill. Launched from the company’s website, the “Sleeves up for Steph” campaign produced 304 units of blood for the Red Cross.  

 

How did she get so many people—many first-time donors—to participate? “I try to lead by example,” she says. “You try to convince people and take the excuses away. I also offer to go with hesitant first-time donors and hold their hands. And I reminded them that at the end, you get to eat a cookie. What could be better than that!” 

 

Greer has donated 240 pints of whole blood over the last 40 years and continues to donate. “If God has blessed you with good health and the ability to donate, whether to friends or random strangers, do it!”

National Volunteer Week Spotlight: T. Arnold Ferguson

It's National Volunteer Week and we're celebrating T. Arnold Ferguson's 🌟 65 YEARS OF SERVICE! 🌟

T., of the Southeast Tennessee Red Cross Chapter, began his Red Cross service as a member of his high school’s Youth Council. Since then, he’s supported Red Cross chapters throughout New England, Ohio and Tennessee. He’s also touched each Red Cross line of service.

To T., being a Red Cross volunteer means giving service to his local, national and international community. “The primary thing that has inspired me to continue all these years is that in my many varied roles with the Red Cross ─ from stuffing envelopes to board member ─ I have witnessed the real impact we have on the lives and well-being of people,” he said.

“Perhaps the one experience that stands out most is when a young man who had been one of my first aid students let me know that, because of what I had taught him, he had been able to save his father’s life,” he recalled. “He thought I had empowered him to do that, but it was the Red Cross that had empowered me. It not only taught me the first aid skills, but it taught me how to teach those skills to others. “