My husband, Marlon, is a pillar in the anime convention community and important to so many people coast to coast as a friend and as someone dedicated to our close-knit community of nerds.

Recently, he was diagnosed with mouth cancer. A tumor in his tongue enlarged it so he couldn’t speak or eat and doctors feared for his breathing. In the course of multiple hospital stays, he got a feeding tube in his stomach, a breathing tube in his throat, and started radiation treatments. Then, on July 13, days after his first chemotherapy treatment, he coded in the hospital. He wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse for at least 5 minutes. We found out later that the cardiac arrest was due to a massive internal bleed and caused dozens of mini-strokes. Thankfully, Marlon survived the night and has been making daily improvements since, but he has a long road to a full recovery. He would not have survived if the hospital wasn’t able to continuously replace the lost blood before he could undergo surgery to stop the internal bleeding.

I ask anyone who is able, please donate blood in his name and save other people’s lives as his was saved. I was told in the past that I couldn’t donate blood due to low iron, but it turns out to be more nuanced than that, so you may be eligible to donate even if you were not in the past. Please check the current eligibility requirements, and if you can, make and keep an appointment and donate blood or platelets. I’m running this campaign through November 2nd.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!