Taft Resolution 

Meet three grateful recipients:

Monique
George
Connor

When the Red Cross caught up with George Knox, he had just spent the day with his four-year-old grandson Evan building fires from a magnifying glass and hunting for fossils in limestone rocks. George and his wife Marianne live in McArthur, Ohio, and they both wish to thank Central Ohio Blood donors for giving the gift of life.

For two years, George and Marianne woke up at 5:30 a.m. twice weekly to drive two hours to the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus so that George could receive blood transfusions. In 1996, he
had been diagnosed with two malignant, non-cancerous blood diseases. These rare blood diseases meant his body no longer produced adequate quantities of blood to sustain life. He was told that his condition was terminal and that, statistically, his life expectancy was twenty-nine months.

Since that time, he has received in excess of 500 transfusions of either red cells or platelets, here in Ohio, and also while traveling in Montana and Washington.

"I would have been long since gone," said George. "Donors meant the difference between life and death in my situation."

"I am not eloquent enough to convey the breadth of my gratitude to volunteers, the American Red Cross, and especially those who have donated their blood for me and others in like circumstances. I thank you for sustaining my life," George said.

George has not needed a blood transfusion for his two rare blood diseases since December 1999. As mysteriously as his diseases appeared, his body began producing enough blood once again.

George is retired from being CEO of Unity Savings Bank in McArthur. George spends his time spoiling his two grandchildren, Evan and Conner, traveling around Ohio with his wife, and visiting with sons Bruce, Brian and Carl.

"I'm still enjoying life!"  exclaimed George.

Please continue to help patients like George. Contact a blood bank near you and schedule your next life-saving appointment. Giving Blood Saves Lives.