Many enthusiastic citizens turned out Friday to the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center’s Donor Room to donate replacement blood for Scott Roessing.
Roessing, the superintendent of The Koelher Company in Seguin, suffers from hairy cell leukemia, a rare blood disease that causes the body to make too many white blood cells and reduces the number of red blood cells and platelets.
According to Susan Holt, the donor recruiter consultant at the Donor Room, as of noon on Friday they had already collected blood from 29 donors, and only 4 or 5 had been previously scheduled prior to the blood drive. By the end of the day, approximately 50 donors had come through the Donor Room at The MarketPlace, 651 N. Interstate 35 Suite 830. That’s also not counting the donations to the blood mobile parked in front of the Commissioners’ Court at 199 Main Plaza.
Both the Donor Room and Blood Mobile continue the drive for donations through today for Roessing, and are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Donors need to remember to present identification, as anyone 16 years of age needs to weigh at least 120 pounds, and everyone else 17 and older needs to weigh at least 110. 16-year-old donors need the consent of their parents in order to participate. The donor room recommends eating and drinking before and after giving blood. A brief intake physical exam is conducted prior to giving blood.
Roessing started kidney dialysis Tuesday and is listed in critical but stable condition at St. Luke's Baptist Church Hospital in San Antonio.
