While Nicholson resident Todd Booth recovers from a bone marrow transplant a week ago, he can take comfort in the fact that he has a lot of friends.
So many of them showed up for a blood drive in his honor last Thursday that the American Red Cross had to send folks home and rescheduled another blood drive Friday, July 18.
Booth received the bone marrow transplant as a treatment for myleodysplasia, a disease that will lead to leukemia. As part of his treatment, he’s received dozens of pints of blood.
The Rev. Mike Stowers, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, which Booth attends, put together the blood drive. He had hoped 50 donors might sign up.
“We got 52 pints of blood and had 106 people show up,” said Stowers. “That made me feel excited. I was just thrilled.”
Some people waited more than two hours to give blood, but the Red Cross ultimately had to start turning people away.
“The Red Cross said they were overwhelmed,” said Stowers, who added that some 30 people signed up for the national bone marrow registry.
“To me, there’s no better gift than blood or bone marrow,” he said. “It’s the most sacrificial gift anybody could give. People turned out and waited over two hours to give. It was amazing, and I want to thank the people in the area for their support.”
Stowers himself was unable to give blood — he let others go in front of him so they could get done more quickly and wound up being among those asked to come back July 18.
“Maybe I’ll get to give then,” he said of the upcoming second blood drive.
The “to be continued” blood drive will be held from 2:00 to 7:00, but the location will be changed to the First Baptist Church of Nicholson because it has more space.
Booth Recuperating
Meanwhile, Stowers says Booth is “doing fairly well” at Emory University Hospital after getting the bone marrow transplant July 2.
“They don’t know anything definite yet, but he seems to be keeping his strength pretty good and has a fairly good appetite,” his pastor said.
Booth will stay at Emory for a few weeks, then stay in close proximity for several weeks so doctors can monitor his progress and keep an eye out for infection.
