ATLANTA -- The American Red Cross is asking everyone this holiday season to Give the Gift of Life! By donating your blood or platelets, you could be giving someone the most important gift of all.

Officials are asking you to go to one of the American Red Cross Centers and give life-saving Platelets. This could give another sunrise, another birthday, another walk on the beach, another Christmas to those victims of Cancer, Leukemia and blood diseases such as Anemia, that cannot live without them.

Platelets are the clotting factor in blood -- tiny little golden cells with prickles in the surface. Their job is to hurry to the site of an injury, or where there is bleeding, and form clots to stop it. Platelets are made in the bone marrow, and a normal person has an average Platelet count of 150, 000. Many of us have many more than that, up into the 300,000 range. When a person has cancer and is undergoing Chemotherapy, the bone marrow is devastated to the point where it cannot manufacture the Platelets needed to keep the Patient from bleeding internally. That is why there is such a critical need for people to go in and donate Platelets on a regular basis.

The process is somewhat time consuming but not painful and is perfectly safe. We have donors that have given over 450 times. The donor is connected by a needle (smaller than the Whole Blood Needle) and some tubing to a sterile kit that has been put into a cell-separator machine. The kit is sealed and the blood that comes up inside cannot escape out into the machine. The machine simply spins the kit, and when you spin any liquid, the light particles rise to the top and the heavy ones drop down to the bottom. We separate about 2 tablespoons of platelets off the top of the kit, and a little bit of plasma, and send the red and white cells, which are at the bottom, back to the donor. While this is happening, the donor is relaxing in a comfortable recliner chair watching a movie he/she has chosen from the Video or DVD file. It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes on the machine. The whole process is about 2 hours. Afterwards, the donor can resume his normal activity which includes working out, playing tennis, baseball, etc. All the donated Platelets will be made back up in 48 hours.

Newborn and Adult open heart surgery requires 1-10 units of Platelets.

Leukemia patients use 6-8 units of Platelets daily for 2-4 wks.

Bone Marrow Transplant patients use 6-8 units of Platelets daily, for 4-6 weeks.

Liver transplant patients use 10 units of Platelets.

Platelet-giving is especially important to our WSB family. Channel 2 Director and Technical Director, Lucas Johnson, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this past October at the age of 28. Since then, he has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Lucas’ family and the American Red Cross joined forces to get as many people as possible to donate their platelets this holiday season – when the demand for them is so very high. Co-workers of Lucas’ have been donating their platelets this month to honor Lucas – since he will be needing platelets daily next Spring.

Platelets are fragile and last only 5 days – but fortunately, you can give platelets every 2 weeks! You must be 17 years old, healthy and weigh at least 110 pounds.

There are 6 Donor Centers in Metro Atlanta – in Atlanta, Marietta, Alpharetta, Duluth and Stockbridge and you can be scheduled at the one most convenient to you.

If you are interested in donating platelets – please call Lynn Smith at (404) 253- 5250 to schedule your appointment to give the gift of life!