Ascension St. Vincent hosting blood drive Tuesday as supply run low

INDIANAPOLIS — The state and national blood supply are extremely low right now and Ascension St Vincent is working to change that.

They are hosting a blood drive on 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and there are still several spots available.

Blood drives likes these are the reason people like 19-year-old Daewoo "Skooter" Thompson are still here.

Thompson was behind the wheel of black sedan on US 31 in Cicero on May 28, 202, when he got in a life-altering car crash.

His car rolled and he was thrown out the window and stopped breathing. Crews began what would become a 53-day effort to bring Skooter back to life.

Skooter needed intubation, ECMO, multiple bronchoscopies, six abdominal surgeries, a tracheotomy tube, a feeding tube and a skin graft.

He got down to 74 pounds at one point, and his family worried he would never leave the hospital alive.

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Skooter was discharged on July 20, 2021, after almost two months in the hospital. He now is healthy and walking around his hometown of Kokomo.

Skooter received lots of blood products during his hospital stay and his entire family have become advocates for blood donation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt Indiana’s blood supply and they’re eager to increase awareness about the kinds of patients who need donated blood, like car crash victims.

Skooter recently returned to the halls of Ascension St. Vincent’s Trauma Center to surprise his care team and they say they were surprised to see him walking.

They feared he might not make a full recovery, and were thrilled to shake his hand and walk around the floor together.