This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
In February 2003, Amy Connor was pregnant with twin boys. One day, she went into labor — a full 10 weeks before her due date. After the birth, her sons, William and James, were both struggling.
"One of them, his heart kept stopping. The other one was on a lot of oxygen and his retina separated and they thought he was going to be blind. It was a very dramatic time for us," Connor recalled.
Doctors told the family that James, the baby on oxygen, needed a blood transfusion. But there was an issue — babies born prematurely can only be transfused with blood that meets much stricter requirements than blood used for adults. The hospital didn't have any blood that met the requirements for donating to premature babies.
"But [the transfusion] was absolutely necessary and without it, he might die," Connor said.
Quickly, the hospital put out a call to its donation organizations.
"[And] they told us that we were [also] able to put out a call. Anyone could come into the hospital and donate for a specific person if they wanted to," Connor said.
This was over 20 years ago, before social media existed. So, Connor and her family took the old-fashioned approach: email.
"We sent out emails to all of our friends and family, and they obviously sent them out to all of their friends and family. [Then] we just sort of sat there not really knowing if anyone would respond or if any of them would be a match," Connor remembered.
"Sitting there and waiting to find out if your child is going to get something that they need to live or die is sort of surreal. I've never experienced anything like that before."
The wait turned out to be worth it. In total, nearly 30 people showed up to the hospital to donate blood for James. Among those, only one was a match.
"When they came back and told us that there was one match, [it wasn't] even just a sigh of relief. It's like you release all of this breath in your body that you didn't even know you were holding."
James got the blood he needed to survive. He and his brother are now 22, and thriving.
Connor and her family will never know who donated the blood that saved James' life. Due to privacy laws, the hospital was not able to tell the family, or the donor, whose blood was eventually used in the transfusion.
"If I had them in front of me and I could tell them or thank them, what I would say is this: [that] one little act that took them probably half an hour or an hour out of their lives changed so many people's lives," Connor said tearfully.
"They are solely responsible for the fact that [James] lived, and the fact that he has grown up and that he will someday have a family. And I will never ever know who they are. I don't think there are words to say thank you enough for something like that."
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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