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11-year-old blood disease warrior joins urgent call to donate blood
King Singh joined the New York Blood Center to make the call after surviving leukemia and genetic blood disease
It was a simple message from an 11-year-old patient at Cohen Children’s Medical Center who relied on multiple blood transfusions throughout his young life to survive — "Give blood now."
Joined by members of the New York Blood Center, King Singh, a Queens Village resident, returned to Cohen Children’s with his parents, Shameeza and Michael Singh, and his siblings with a call to action for potential blood donors in the area.
“The summer is over, we’re back to school and back to our routine,” said King. “By giving blood, you are helping children like me survive. Please make blood donation a part of your routine.”
At age 2, King was diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as well as the rare blood disease named G6PD, a genetic disorder that affects red blood cells by causing them to break down prematurely.
To deal with these debilitating diseases of the blood, King endured nearly four years of daily chemotherapy treatment in the form of pills, intravenous and spinal injections — along with several blood transfusions.
“My son also suffered terrible treatment side effects, including neuropathy, brain trauma and intussusception (a condition in which part of the intestine twists into itself),” said Ms. Singh. “My son is my hero. Through all of this, he remains strong and determined to help others. That’s why we’re here today.”
Weather personality Mr. G explains why it is so important for everyone to donate blood. To schedule an appointment to donate blood.
Also joining in the urgent appeal for blood donations was Alexander Indrikovs, MD, senior director of transfusion medicine at Northwell Health. “Consider these facts,” he said. “Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, hospital blood usage has far outpaced community blood donations, straining both the local and national blood supply.”
Adding to these complications are the seasonal challenges that typically accompany the summer months; seasonal travel, school breaks and an increase in traumatic accidents can strain the blood supply. Fast forward to winter, when donations tend to drop off during and after the winter holidays, with inclement weather disrupting blood drives and keeping donors at home.
Yadira Navarro, director of community and stakeholder relations at NY Blood Center, added that there has been a nearly 50% drop in donations from donors ages 16-24 in recent years.
“This year, we hope that high schools across our area are inspired to get involved in this lifesaving mission and influence young people on the importance of saving lives through blood donations,” she said. “It’s important to note that more than 60% of the total population is eligible to give blood, yet only 3% actually do. If we can increase this participation rate, by even just 1%, we would likely eliminate blood emergencies and our active blood donors would not have to shoulder the burden of maintaining a healthy blood supply for all.”
Before leaving with his family, King kept his word about giving back to others by loading a cart filled with new toys to be used by children in the emergency department.
“It’s my way of giving back for receiving this gift of life,” said King.
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