In 2009, Philadelphia Police Officer Ashley Hoggard was responding to a call when he was shot in the chest, close to his heart. The last thing he remembers is saying a prayer. “It ripped my lung in half,” Ashley said. “I died three times that night. I was in a coma. I lost six units of blood in the time it took my partner to get me to the hospital.” Blood transfusions helped save his life. A nurse later told Ashley she had never seen someone lose that much blood and live. He spent 27 days in the trauma and intensive care units, and over the course of the next several years, endured 15 surgeries. Ashley doesn’t take anything in life for granted anymore. He retired from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2023 and now works for the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5. He donates blood, platelets and plasma whenever he can. “The night I got shot, I needed six units of blood just to stay alive. It came from six different strangers. Six people that I never met. Six people ...