NEIGHBORLY AND HEROIC ACTS Hannah’s Story

BECAUSE OF A CARING, GENEROUS community that literally donates a piece of themselves to strangers, SunCoast Blood Bank couldn’t do as much good as they do. “It really is an amazing gesture for someone you’ll likely never meet,” says Bush. Fredd and Shelia Atkins are both wellknown in Sarasota and have devoted their lives to their family and community. They are also life-long blood donors with SCBB. Fredd is up to 17 gallons and Shelia is at 3 gallons. Together, they encourage others to donate, especially the next generation.

“We need to educate our children early about the importance of donating blood,” says Shelia. They note, “No matter how busy life gets, you can find the time.” For Hannah Marsh, she remains inherently grateful for people like the Atkins. Hannah’s story began in 2008 when she was five years old. She woke up one morning with a severe nosebleed, bruising, and purple spots all over her body. ER doctors found that her platelet count was fatally low and her organs were shutting down. Fortunately, a quick diagnosis showed that Hannah had hemophagocytic lymph histiocytosis (HLH).

HLH affects about one in 1.2 million children and causes an immune system malfunction, destroying red and white blood cells and platelets. She didn’t respond to the treatment, and her only hope for a cure was a bone marrow transplant. “There was no match in our family or in the entire U.S. We finally got a match in Germany,” said her mom Kelly Marsh. “Hannah received the transplant one day before her sixth birthday, but for all the months leading up to that, she was totally dependent on blood and platelet transfusions to survive.”

In all, Hannah received more than 400 life-sustaining units of blood and platelets. Hannah’s older sister Shelby, became a blood donor as soon as she was old enough, and the youngest plans to donate as soon as she turns 16. “Before this happened, I really didn’t understand the importance of having a local blood bank that provides the appropriate blood for transfusion as well as having an adequate, safe blood supply within the community,” says Shelby.

“I did not have any idea that my family would would go through something like this.” To get the next generation on board with donating to save lives like hers, Hannah strongly encourages her fellow high school peers to get on board with becoming avid donors, as she herself is now an active and frequent donor. “I want to give back to the community and thank donors for what they did for me 11 years ago when I was a kid,” she says. “I was given hundreds of bags of blood for months on end. So, I just want to give back a little of what I received.”