A Patients Story: Kirsten

Jul 1, 2022 | Stacie Hammer | @shammer26

While attending a blood donor recruiter’s presentation with her coworkers, Kirsten Whalen, a Pathologists Assistant at Mayo Clinic, remembered how donated blood greatly improved the outcome of her heart surgery years before. On leaving the presentation, Kirsten was so inspired that she helped organize a blood challenge within Anatomic Pathology, where various groups from the department were challenged to see how many units of blood they could donate over a four-month period. By the end of the challenge, a whopping 187 blood donations were tallied, many of them from new donors.

First place went to the Autopsy Laboratory group, but everyone was a winner — especially patients who would receive this blood. “This was such a great challenge for our group to show how we can help save lives through blood donation,” says Angela Regnier, assistant supervisor of the Autopsy Laboratory.

Dr. Ross Reichard, medical director of Postmortem Services in the Autopsy Laboratory, chimes in: “The Autopsy staff enjoys endeavors that bring our group together. What could be better than working as a team on something as important as blood donation?”

Kristina Peters, supervisor of the Autopsy Laboratory, is one of the many who felt compelled to answer this challenge. “Blood products can save lives, so the decision to donate was a simple one for me,” she says. “What a great way to support our patients and community.”

Looking back on the event, Kirsten describes the challenge as “a great success and wonderfully
competitive. I highly recommend anyone to organize a departmentwide challenge. Thank you to everyone that participated!”

How to Donate
For more information about donating blood in Rochester, Minnesota, call (507) 284-4475 or email donateblood@mayo.edu. Or visit our webpage http://www.mayoclinic.org/donateblood.

Follow Us