MAREK

Our son Marek was diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Carcinoma, an extremely rare brain and spinal cord cancer, when he was one and a half years old after an accidental fall from our living room couch. In the following weeks he underwent 30+ hours of intense brain surgery, during which surgeons were able to remove most of the tumor in his brain. During surgeries, he received three times his body's blood volume in donated blood.

After the surgeries, Marek went through chemotherapy treatment at St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Due to side effects from the chemotherapy treatments, he received platelet and whole blood transfusions about once a month. Due to the generous donations of many, our son’s life was saved! Prior to this, I had never donated blood. I always made excuses as to why I couldn't donate. However, I vowed that I would at least try to donate. It was the least I could do to help people in need of it.

I want people to know that just ten minutes of your time and one pint of your blood can help save lives, like our son’s.

What better gift can you give someone?