Scared and unprepared for what was to come, we brought our first child into the world hoping she’d never need a transfusion. Life had other plans.
Saradpon is a stay-at-home mother of two and a florist. She is president of the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation California chapter, organizes blood drives and fundraisers to raise awareness for thalassemia, and runs a women’s ministry at her church called “Women At The Well.” She lives in National City.
My daughter Kamila is 9 years old and currently obsessed with Pokemon cards. She is a sweet, kind, mature, bubbly kid who loves animals, art, cooking with her dad, the beach and playing outdoors with her little sister. She’s also had more than 164 blood transfusions at Rady Children’s Hospital throughout her life, starting when she was 2 months old.
Kamila has been fortunate to get closely matched donor blood that helps her thrive through a Rady Children’s partnership with San Diego Blood Bank Precision Blood initiative. But in order for kids like Kamila to have a chance at a long, healthy life, we need more people to give blood, especially those who are Asian/Pacific Islander, Black or Hispanic/Latino, so they can formally launch and expand a Precision Blood clinical trial that will directly benefit patients at Rady Children’s.
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