|
 "I recall a friend of mine calling me and telling me that she was just admiring the gorgeous day. She had thought to herself, 'how could anyone be having a bad day today?' Moments later, I was experiencing the worst day of my life." Eileen Hovey says.
Eleven children were walking to their after school program accompanied by their chaperone when a Mercury Grand Marquee ran a red light and struck a six-year-old boy. Quinn Hovey was thrown 65 feet in the air before landing on the street below. As Quinn lay in a pool of his own blood, firefighters did everything they could to stabilize him.
Doctors had prepared for Quinn's arrival by setting up a trauma room equipped with O blood, the blood type that is given to most trauma patients. In emergency situations such as Quinn's, doctors have no time to blood type a patient and use the universal blood type O to treat trauma patients. When Quinn arrived at the hospital, he had lost a significant amount of blood. Without an immediate blood transfusion he would have died in the hospital in only a matter of minutes. "I thank the anonymous blood donors that donated two days before Quinn's accident for helping to save my child's life," remarks Eileen Hovey, Quinn's mother.
The skin on the left side of Quinn's face, the back of his right hand and upper most of his left chest was gone. His left femur, a leg bone, was broken and his skull was fractured in three places. He suffered a severe brain injury as a result of the multiple injuries to the head and doctors had no way of knowing if Quinn would survive or how well Quinn would function if he did survive.
Quinn spent two weeks in pediatric intesive care in the hospital as doctors treated his injuries and monitored him around the clock. Quinn would survive, but recovery would be long and uncertain. Quinn spent another 6 weeks in inpatient rehab. He would need extensive medical treatment and incredible amounts of rehabilitating therapy. Every day was a challenge for Quinn. He had to relearn everything from holding his own head up to eating and talking, he was like an infant a second time.
"Quinn is fortunate to live in a large city with two level one pediatric trauma hospitals. The amazing doctors, nurses and support staff were ready and waiting when we arrived. But without available blood none of this would have mattered," Eileen recalls. The Philadelphia region is home to world class transplant centers, trauma centers and children's hospitals that provide lifesaving medical care to people from all over the region, the country and the world. In order for these institutions to provide patient care, they must receive an adequate supply of blood everyday.
Although we are surrounded by medical institutions providing state-of-the-art medical care, technology cannot be a substitute for providing blood. Quinn would never have survived day one of the accident had it not been for volunteer blood donors. Blood was available in Quinn's time of need. The Hovey family knows that without it, they would have lost Quinn on Thursday, April 29, 2004. Instead, more than a year later, Quinn is healthy and active.
Medical care in our region depends on blood being available at any time for any one who needs it. Quinn Hovey depended on blood to be available when he needed it. Some day you or someone you love may depend on it as well. The only way to ensure that blood is available when you need it is to become a regular blood donor.
Eileen appeals to people by saying, "Please continue to donate blood and save lives. It is very important that we help one another when we can. I thank all of you."
|
