Nearly 60 miles from his hometown of Villisca, Iowa, Greg King was flown to the Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., after the then-high-school student was in a serious car accident that caused him to undergo two-and-a-half months of treatment.

After the accident, King, now a freshman in kinesiology and health, was Life-Flighted to Omaha, having broken his femur and other bones in his leg. Due to major bone marrow loss from his broken femur, King had to receive what many have never experienced: a two-pint blood transfusion.

Complications during transfusions can occur, which is what happened to King. Shortly after he had the transfusion, doctors discovered blood clots in his heart and lungs, which required further treatment.

“After that, I couldn’t give blood for a year,” King said.

To this day, King has not obtained information about the person who gave him blood. Even before the accident, however, he was an advocate of blood donation and said he is thankful he received the “gift of life.”

“I’ve given blood as soon as I possibly could, knowing that it’s there if somebody needs it,” King said. “I’m just grateful, since I’ve given blood so much, that I could receive it from somebody else who has given it for people who need it.”

Cases like King’s are why the ISU Blood Drive Committee is hosting a Blood Drive on campus this week in the Durham Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Jeremy Weiss, co-director of the Blood Drive Committee and junior in management, said about 5 million patients need blood transfusions each year, resulting in 32,000 pints used every day. A pint of blood is needed every two seconds.

“We’re just encouraging everyone to stop in and donate — if they’re not eligible to donate, at least to sign up for a time to volunteer by e-mailing our volunteer coordinator,” Weiss said. “I guess once you get done, it’s kind of a good feeling. You get to feel, ‘Hey, I got to save three lives.’ … You’ll talk to some recipients of blood who will tell you that it essentially saved their life — without the blood, they wouldn’t be living today.”

Weiss said blood collected at Iowa State typically circulates “all across Iowa,” including the Blood Center of Iowa in Des Moines, as well as the American Red Cross stations in Waterloo and Omaha, Neb.

Weiss said last year’s Blood Drive collected 2,000 pints of blood for distribution.

This year’s Blood Drive theme is titled “Live Green Go Red” and is aimed at encouraging Iowa State’s recent environmental campaigns.

“What better sustainability is there than to sustain someone’s life?” Weiss said.

Fall ISU Blood Drive

When: Monday, Sept. 29 through Friday, Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Durham Great Hall, Memorial Union

To volunteer, contact Kara Steiner at [email protected].