# @americanredcross on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8-LSZ1J7d9
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/72589866-americanredcross-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c3fbe7f91f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-07-03T19:00:42.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Red Cross (@americanredcross) — https://gondola.cc/americanredcross

## Caption

Kerrin Lucas and Charles Hayes couldn’t wait to become parents. But in May, as many birth plans go, “Pretty much nothing went as planned.”

Kerrin underwent a C-section and Baby Roisin was born — a dream come true.

Pure joy turned to panic as Roisin began to show signs of respiratory distress. She received oxygen and further monitoring in the nursery, but the next morning, her care team recognized her lungs were premature and became concerned about her red blood cell production.

Roisin was transferred to a nearby hospital, admitted to the NICU, and placed on a ventilator. At just 1 day old, she needed a blood transfusion to boost her red blood cells and the oxygen in her blood.

“It’s one of those things that you never expect is going to happen to you or your family,” Kerrin said.

For babies like Roisin, the need for a blood transfusion is delicate as they require blood specifically without cytomegalovirus (CMV), which could be fatal for babies with weakened immune systems. Nearly 85% of adults have the virus present in their blood by age 40, so donors with CMV-negative blood are what we affectionately refer to as a “Hero for Babies.”

Roisin received one unit of blood and remained on the ventilator for four days before transitioning to a CPAP machine and eventually starting to breathe on her own. After two weeks in the hospital, Kerrin and Charles were able to bring their baby girl home.

“I don't know who gave the blood to save my daughter’s life and will never know, but I am eternally grateful for whom that person may be,” Charles said.

#DonateBlood #GiveBlood #BloodDonor #DonateBloodSaveLives #GiveBloodSaveLives #NICUbaby #NICUgraduate

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## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

giveblood, donateblood, nicugraduate, nicubaby, donatebloodsavelives, givebloodsavelives, blooddonor

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