On June 1, 2008 I was shot four-times point blank in a grocery store parking lot. The first bullet hit my right shoulder, one got my right wrist, the other two into the back bouncing around hit my stomach, liver, spleen, diaphragm, and pierced a lung. I was rushed to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital where a Level 1 Trauma Team prepared for my arrival. For an extended period, I was in a medically induced coma undergoing dozens of surgeries; often two a day. With less than a five-percent chance to live there were many very questionable days. With a lot of hard work and rehabilitation I was finally able to return to work full-time 13 months after the incident. It was and still is a very long journey.

I am forever grateful to the American Red Cross as every single drop of blood in my body came from blood donors. Without them my story might have had a different ending. Donating our Blood, Platelets and Plasma is a very generous thing that each of us can do for others, as well as ourselves. We have no idea that we may end up being the one that needs a blood transfusion at some point in our lives. So, if we are physically and medically able, I truly believe that it is our opportunity to donate blood products that can and does help save lives.  Every day, blood donors help patients of all ages: accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those battling cancer. More than 40,000 pints of blood are transfused daily in the United States and Canada. Nearly 21 million blood products are transfused each year. The demand for blood is constant. In fact, every two seconds, someone needs blood, and one in every seven people entering the hospital will require a blood transfusion. It’s amazing that 1 DONATION CAN POTENTIALLY SAVE UP TO 3 LIVES, so how many can we save TOGETHER.

I invite you to help patients receive the lifesaving blood they need. Make and keep an appointment to give blood to the American Red Cross.

TOGETHER We Bleed!

Mark J. Sable
iTHINKVERTICAL, LLC, Owner