Oklahoma Blood Institute Scholarship Essay
Nancy Kaylan Needham
My name is Nancy Kaylan Needham, and I am a fourth-generation senior at Healdton High School. I am the daughter of Billy Needham and Robin McElroy Needham and the granddaughter of Terry and the late Michael McElroy. My family’s life has often times intertwined with blood donation in different ways, some good and some bad.
My family’s first interaction with blood donation came in December of 1967 when my grandparents, Mike and Terry McElroy, decided to run away and get married at the ages of 20 and 22. In order to pay for their marriage license, my grandfather decided to do the only thing that he could to make money, he sold his blood. In 1967, it was legal to donate blood to the blood bank and to receive money for that service. Blood donation is one of the reasons I am here today; it afforded my grandparents the opportunity to get married. This was the start of my family’s interactions with blood donation.
On October 16, 1991, my family’s outlook on life was changed forever. My grandfather Michael William McElroy, was burned over sixty-seven percent of his body in an oilfield accident. It was a normal workday in the oilfield as he began his daily routine of climbing up and down tanks to open and clean the tank. As my grandfather opened one of the tanks, a large flash appeared and quickly engulfed my grandfather’s whole body. My grandfather stated that the first time he realized he was on fire was when he watched his eyelids fall off. Witnesses state that there was a six foot flame leaping off his head. Fortunately, my grandfather’s friend and fellow oilfield worker Bill Dan Brady and brother-in-law Glen Mitchell were there and were able to smother the flames on my grandfather’s body and transport him to Healdton hospital. After seeing the traumatic injuries, nurses at the small hospital made the life-saving decision to airlift my grandfather to Integris Burn Unit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he received the lifesaving care and blood transfusions that he direly needed.
My grandfather was conscious the entire time he was being airlifted and transported. When my grandfather arrived, his condition was assessed. It was determined that forty-three percent of his total burns were third-degree. He was given a 115% chances of no survival, and doctors even went as far as to tell my grandmother that she needed to start making the funeral arrangements because he would not make it through the night. In total, my grandfather received over 200 pints of blood and plasma, had thirty-one surgeries, and was in the burn unit for three months. To my grandfather’s misfortune, his blood type was O negative, the rarest blood type in the world; only seven percent of people in the nation have this blood type. My grandfather often referred to blood donation as giving someone the “gift of life”. I firmly believe that blood donation is one of the most unselfish gifts someone can give, donating blood means a person takes a part of himself or herself and gives it to someone else in order to help that person survive, the gift of life.
While my grandfather was in the burn unit, the hospital was suffering from a lack of blood donations for his specific type. My grandfather’s home town of Healdton, Oklahoma agreed to band together to help save my grandfather’s life. In October 1991, there was a blood drive held in honor of my grandfather, and to the amazement of many people at the hospital, my small town raised over 300 blood donations, the biggest blood drive in Carter County in honor of one person. Ever since that year, a blood drive is held in Healdton, Oklahoma every October in honor and now in memory of my grandfather Michael William McElroy. Thankfully, my grandfather beat the odds and was able to walk out of Integris Burn Unit under his own power. My grandfather was given the privilege of being able to live for thirteen years after the traumatic and life threatening event.
During these thirteen years, he was able to see both his son and daughter get married and two of his four grandchildren be born. I was able to meet my grandfather because of the amazing people who donated blood and saved my grandfather’s life. Throughout my entire childhood, I have heard about blood donation and the importance of it, but it was not until after my grandfather passed away in October 2004 that I realized how strong and inspirational my grandfather really was. My grandfather was a director and avid supporter of the Oklahoma Blood Institute, and he helped to develop thorough testing of blood donations so that no person ever had to be afraid of donating and receiving blood. My grandfather spoke all over Oklahoma about the importance of blood donation and aspired to give a face to the recipients of blood donation.
Those special people that donated blood to my grandfather will never realize what they gave to me. They gave my family and me irreplaceable memories and the joy of being able to have my grandfather thirteen extra years. My grandfather, my family, and I are living proof that blood donation matters.
Sincerely,
Nancy Kaylan Needham