Clara

Clara’s Story: Blood Donations Saved My Life

At 30 years old, Clara learned she had stage four lung cancer.

Clara grew up in Dallas Center, Iowa, and moved to Colorado after graduating from Iowa State. In 2024 her health began to decline. Doctors tested for causes, but her hemoglobin remained alarmingly low. When she collapsed with relentless vomiting, she was rushed to the emergency room. A scan showed advanced cancer that had spread through her body, including her brain.

"I just drove myself to the emergency room, and that's when they did a CT scan, and they saw that I had cancer." Clara began immediate treatment. Radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy followed. The drugs left her weak, and twice she landed in the ICU. Both times, blood transfusions helped her survive.

“I knew I was in the hospital, but I didn't know how I got there. I remember waking up and seeing a bag of blood next to me,” she recalls. “That was about my tenth transfusion. Each one sustained my body when it could not on its own.” Throughout her treatment she has relied on donated blood and platelets. After each transfusion she could feel energy return.

“It perked me up and gave me strength again. People say blood donations save lives. They saved mine in very real ways.”

Donate blood. It saves lives. It really does, because it saved my life multiple times throughout this process. Although she has never donated, Clara now sees it as essential. “I used to avoid it because of needles,” she explains. “But after all I’ve been through, I know how little that matters compared to what it gives someone in need. It takes only a brief moment, and it can alter the course of treatment for the patient receiving it.”

Clara is now back in Iowa, surrounded by family. She continues her care and shares her story to encourage others.

"Donating blood may feel small, but for people like me, it means another chance to keep going."