At just 2 years old, Cole was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He underwent aggressive chemotherapy to treat his high-risk cancer. “He had really intense chemo,” his mom Mandi said. “It took him a year to get through his frontline treatment. Part of that was because the chemo affected him a ton, so he had a lot of chemo holds because his platelets were so low.” Cole received platelet transfusions to limit the risk of bleeding since one of his chemotherapy regimens involved an injection into his spine. Making sure Cole had enough platelets to get the treatment he needed was always on Mandi’s mind. “I remember one time, we were waiting on platelets because they had none that matched his blood type in the hospital,” she said. “He waited two hours for platelets to come, and I was just thinking, ‘What if they never came?’” Thanks to the generosity of blood donors, Cole received the platelet transfusions he needed, and after two and a half years of treatment, he rang the hosp...