MORGANTOWN — A three-sport athlete, 13-year-old Ellie Thornton is used to standing up to the opposition.
Now she’s facing down aplastic anemia, a severe and deadly blood disease, and everyone is standing up for her.
Ellie and her mom, Sondra, took the podium Monday morning in the West Virginia University Cancer Institute as the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society announced the Give Blood to Give Time initiative aimed at raising awareness of the critical need for blood and platelet donors.
Sondra spoke of the October visit to the emergency room that changed her family’s life.
“She was walking and talking and practicing up until that day, so we were shocked. We couldn’t believe this was something that was happening to her. Her life has changed drastically since then,” she said. “It is the folks at the Red Cross and WVU Medicine that’s saved her life. Ellie is very close to remission.”
The three dozen or so in attendance stood to cheer their support for the Thornton family, which is in the process of planning a second blood drive since the diagnosis.
Erica Mani, CEO of American Red Cross, West Virginia, explained that patients fighting cancer need nearly a quarter of the nation’s blood supply.
“There simply aren’t enough people donating to meet the ongoing need. Alarmingly, only three percent of people donate regularly to help meet the demand,” Mani said. “This is why the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society have teamed up to raise awareness about the importance of blood donations and how we can all help patients fighting cancer.”
Richard Funnell, VP of WVU Cancer Services, said that with one in three Americans facing a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime and West Virginia ranking among the highest nationally in terms of cancer rate and cancer death rate, getting involved could very well help someone you know or care about.
Someone like Ellie.
“Knowing what we’ve gone through, and knowing how critical it was for us to have blood in the bloodbank was all of a sudden, so important,” Sondra Thornton said, praising the efforts of the pediatric hematology and oncology team at WVU Medicine Children’s.
“They are incredibly knowledgeable and I can’t say enough how they’ve treated her and loved her like their own,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Anyone looking for ways get involved should check out givebloodtogivetime.org.
