Monday, May 12, 2008
What's the Murphy 400 Fund?
During my wife’s two pregnancies, my sons were diagnosed with Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia. This is a condition where the gestating baby’s blood platelets have a specific antigen (or toxin) that the mother’s antibodies react to negatively, destroying the baby’s platelets. Deficient platelet levels are a serious and potentially life-threatening situation, requiring both of my sons to undergo multiple platelet transfusions. These platelets, which a fairly rare platelet type among the general populace, were provided by the same anonymous donor through BloodSource. Soon after receiving the transfusions, my boys were in the clear. Today, Declan and Jack are healthy and active boys.
My wife Kathleen and I became regular blood donors, but when my 40th birthday was in sight, I decided to do something special. It became my goal to get friends, family and colleagues to donate 400 pints of blood between my 39th and 40th birthdays. To track this goal, BloodSource established the Murphy 400 Fund.
On May 22, 2007, Kathleen and I contributed pints #618 and #619 to the Murphy 400 Fund. We were so pleased with the result, we decided to keep the fund open. The fund has climbed to over 800 pints, and continues to grow.
Please donate blood. It's easy, it's safe, and it saves lives.
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