Sam is a survivor. When his mother, Anna-mary, was pregnant with him, an ultrasound at 12 weeks revealed that his heart wasn’t formed properly. “He basically has half a heart,” Anna-mary said. “They told us his heart defect was so severe that he wouldn’t make it to delivery.” But Sam beat the odds. In addition to his congenital heart defect, he was born with Kabuki syndrome, a rare congenital disorder that can affect the heart, intestines, kidneys and skeleton. He was delivered by C-section and rushed to a nearby children’s hospital where he had open-heart surgery at just 36 hours old. Baby Sam required several blood transfusions as part of the delicate surgery and has since had two additional open-heart surgeries that also required blood transfusions. The blood donations that saved Sam’s life inspired Anna-mary to start an annual blood drive with the RedCrossNorCalCoastal to commemorate Sam’s birthday month and give back to the community. Today, Sam is a happy and active 13-year-...