Small Town, Big Heart: El Campo Blood Donors to the Rescue
The dedication of some of The Blood Center’s blood drive groups is out-of-this-world unforgettable.
Case in point: El Campo’s Knights of Columbus Council 2490. This small town just southwest of Houston rallies together with fierce determination when a community member is in need.
The Council held its second drive with The Blood Center in July in honor of Louis Buzek. Since a serious hunting accident in January, Louis (pictured below with wife Ruthie) has been at Hermann Hospital with Dr. Red Duke and has had at least 90 surgeries .
Chairperson Greg Witcher talks about the need for Commit for Life donors around El Campo every chance he gets.
“I believe in it,” Greg told me on the phone the other day. “You often don’t think about the need for blood, but things can change in a moment’s notice. Hospitals need the blood there on the shelf just in case. And I’m glad it was there for Louis.”
At their second drive, the community donated a whopping 88 units of blood. It’s a testament to the passion of Greg and the people of El Campo.
Greg is on a mission to collect 100 units at the next drive in September.
Get updates on Louis at his family’s blog here: http://prayingforlouisb.blogspot.com/.
Blood donors, we can’t thank you enough for donating making a difference for recipients like Louis. His daughter, Tracy, expresses how much you mean to their family in her latest blog post.
P.S. I had forgotten to mention another great tidbit about this blood drive. Greg told me that one donor (a 12-gallon donor, in fact) had driven 60 miles from Victoria to El Campo after hearing about the drive on the radio. It just goes to show the dedication of Commit for Life donors!
There are special people that come into your life for who knows what reason. The Buzek family is special to just about everyone in our hometown. Their loving and generous nature is evident in the way they live their life. When this accident occurred, the whole town was moved to try to help. What can we do to aid/speed Louis’ recovery? What can we do to better his chances of survival? There were only 2 real things we could do – pray and donate blood. So you can bet that this city was moved to do just that – to the best of our ability. The prayers still abound and the blood still flows. We realize that the blood doesn’t go directly to Louie, but as much as we care about him, someone else cares about their loved one. They don’t want to lose someone special to them anymore than we want to lose Louie. So it is because of our love for him and his family that we will do anything possible to help him and others and we diligently keep track of when our next possible donation time rolls around. We are eager to donate for the good of others because of the wonderful giving example we have been given by the Buzek family. Thank you to the Blood Bank for being there when our friend needed it and, even when it looked so hopeless, unwaveringly giving every precious unit of blood to this man who is so important to all of us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I didn’t write this to be published but as a thank you note to you, the blood bank.