Alissa Dube
I had been donating blood for 15 years, but didn't discover Unyts until the past year. I learned how Unyts keeps the donations in the Western New York Community. I really identified with this.
Sadly, I had only been able to donate once through Unyts before contracting a one-in-a-million blood disease that would eventually force me to rely on the community for donors!
I was diagnosed with an extremely rare blood disorder called TTP. This past August, my platelet count dropped into the necessary ranges for a blood, and my body demanded several transfusions due to low hemoglobin. In 1991, the treatment options were steroids and hope. There was only a 5% mortality rate (which means 95% of people diagnosed with TTP would be dead within weeks or days even, as internal organs start to shut down). Luckily for me, there IS a treatment plan that involves a process called plasmapheresis, where by all the blood gets extracted from the body. It saved my life.
Thank you donors!
