It's rare that a blood donor and a recipient get to connect but that's exactly what happens on this special ENCORE episode of Bloodworks 101 when frequent platelet donor Dan Ertel meets Mack Bell, a 30-year-old African-American man living with cerebral palsy, who contracted a potentially-deadly blood condition called aplastic anemia. That's a deficiency of all types of blood cells caused by failure of bone marrow development.
Mack, as you'll discover, was the recipient of several transfusions that played a big role in the effort to save his life. So, here's what happens when someone with a lot to be grateful for gets to thank someone who wasn't expecting it.
But there's more. Wait til you hear what's happened since this story first ran in January of 2022.