Karl Schliebe, a former grounds worker at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, needed 15 units of donated blood to survive a car crash that occurred in May 2006.
Multiple surgeries and two months in intensive care gave way to rehabilitation that still continues for the Fuquay-Varina resident, who hopes to return to work at UNC someday.
To blood donors everywhere, his message is simply, “You saved my life and made my family very happy.” Schliebe spoke recently at a campus kickoff for UNC’s 20th annual Carolina Blood Drive, set for 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 3 at the Dean E. Smith Center. “Heels Helping Heal: Celebrating 20 years of Giving” is this year’s theme.
UNC Head Football Coach Butch Davis also gave a pep talk at the kickoff, held for blood drive volunteers and recruiters who now are fanning out across campus and community, urging colleagues and neighbors to give at the drive. Davis said he will ask all UNC football players and assistant coaches to give. “One reason I coach is that I like the idea of helping students and helping the community,” he said. “Anybody involved with the blood drive is making that happen.”
Now cancer-free, Davis did not need blood last year when he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. But he saw other patients benefitting from transfusions, and “my wife had two brothers who had cancer, and they had to have blood. I’m very aware of the need to be involved with the Red Cross and the major need for blood donations.”
Organizers hope to collect more than 1,000 units of blood. What the American Red Cross calls a unit is approximately a pint. Donors may make appointments to give via recruiters, by calling 96-BLOOD (962-5663) or visiting the drive Web site at www.unc.edu/blood through June 2. A donor information link goes to Red Cross sites about the donation process, eligibility to give and how to have a good donation experience.
Chief among the latter are to get a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a good breakfast or lunch before donating, drink lots of non-caffeinated beverages on drive day and eat iron-rich foods for a day or so beforehand. Those include red meat, fish, poultry, liver, beans, raisins and prunes. Avoid such fatty foods as hamburgers, French fries and ice cream beforehand. After giving, visit the canteen for a snack from among sandwiches, sausage biscuits, fruit, chicken wings, gluten-free products, bagels, doughnuts, cookies, juice, soft drinks and more. The bounty is donated by approximately 50 local vendors.
Door prizes for drive participants will include NASCAR and Carolina football tickets; donors may register for one of two $750 gas card giveaways sponsored by the Carolinas Region of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross and the UNC Student Stores will donate 20th-anniversary T-shirts and pins for every donor and volunteer. Drive co-sponsors are the Red Cross and the UNC Student Stores, human resources, print services and a committee with members from across campus.
The drive is in June because donations usually drop in summer, when most students, some of whom give during the academic year, are away and many University employees and residents take vacations. But the need for blood doesn’t let up.
“One in 10 people entering a hospital will need blood products – red cells, platelets and plasma,” said Caroline Allison, a recruitment representative of the American Red Cross. “And blood is only good for 42 days, so we always need blood.”
In 19 previous summer Carolina Blood Drives, plus smaller winter drives over the last nine years, more than 19,600 units of blood have been collected from more than 21,600 donors, offering the potential to save more than 59,000 lives, said longtime volunteer drive chair Katrina Coble of the computer science department, part of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Aware of the need for blood donations in the summer, then-Chancellor Paul Hardin contacted human resources in 1989 with the idea for the first drive. Among its leaders were Ed Phillips, Herb Paul and Debbie Anderson of what was then the physical plant – now facilities services – Mike Lewis of human resources, Pamela Billings of the physical education department, Tommy Brickhouse of mail services and Linwood Futrelle of the computer lab. Held over two days in the Physical Plant and a Carolina Inn ballroom, the drive produced 580 units. The event moved to the Smith Center in 1994.
“Our goal is to collect 1,000 units of blood to help save lives and promote healing in hospitals across the Carolinas Region of the American Red Cross,” Coble said.
Schliebe’s sister Liz Schliebe, an intensive care unit nurse at UNC Hospitals, urged everyone who is able and eligible to give. Speaking from her brother’s experience, she said, “You never know when something can happen to one of your loved ones, and it’s very empowering to be able to save someone’s life.”
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| Karl Schliebe, who needed 15 units of blood to survive a car accident, and his sister, Liz, thanked donors and recruiters at a kickoff for the 20th annual Carolina Blood Drive, set for June 3 at the Dean E. Smith Center. |
Carolina Blood Drive contact: Katrina Coble, (919) 962-1801, coble@cs.unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589