Whether it is a community tragedy, an accident or a routine surgery, hospitals nationwide need blood more than ever. Read on as a survivor of the 1999 Day Trader Shooting in Buckhead shares her story of how blood donation saved her life. July 29, 2024, marked the 25th anniversary of the 1999 Day Trader Shooting in Buckhead. Shooting victim Meredith Forrester knows all too well the life-saving impact of blood donation.
After she was shot once in the back with a hollow-point bullet, Forrester needed more than 115 pints of blood.
“My doctors described the bullet as a guided missile,” she says. When she was in triage, Forrester’s vitals were stable, and she was not bleeding excessively. However, when doctors began surgery, she lost significant amounts of blood because the bullet destroyed one of the two main veins in her heart.
She says her skilled surgeon and his team, as well as blood donated by the community, saved her life.
“Two days before the shooting, there was a shortage of blood at the blood bank, and there wasn’t even 115 pints on hand, let alone 115 pints of the kind of blood I needed,” Forrester explains. “I am painfully aware of how important blood donation is.”
Why Blood Donation Matters
“Here in Georgia, we need type O and type B a little bit more than type A and type AB,” says April Phillips, communications manager at the American Red Cross Southern Blood Services Region. “Type O is the universal blood donor group, and type O-negative is a universal blood type.
So, regardless of a patient’s blood type in an emergency, they can receive O negative blood.” Phillips explains that while donated blood often helps those in emergencies, it is also crucial for patients undergoing surgery, joint replacement or cancer treatment. These procedures can require between two and 100 units of blood.
How You Can Help
“I look at people who donate blood and know they are saving the lives of up to three people,” Forrester says. “There is a constant need for blood. We consistently have shortages in the southern region, and it takes less than an hour of a person’s time, but it really makes a tremendous impact.”
Consider donating at a blood drive in your community. You never know whose life you may save. Test your knowledge with our blood donation quiz – you may learn something new!
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