Family Hosting Memorial Blood Drive in Honor of Mother

Carol Axelrod celebrated her 60th birthday and saw her only grandchild turn three, thanks to blood donors. And now her family wants to give back.

The Carol H. Axelrod Memorial Blood Drive will take place on Wednesday, July 16 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Clubhouse of the Reserve at Gwynedd, 301 Primrose Drive, Lansdale.

“Thanks to the generosity of blood donors, our family received an enormous gift—an extra year with the mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and aunt we loved. Because when you donate blood, you’re doing more than helping an accident victim survive or improving the quality of life of a chronically ill patient. You are also giving families the opportunity to spend more time with a person who means everything to them,” Axelrod’s family said on the event website.

Axelrod was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood, in 2003. Her cancer entered remission in 2005 but two years later, she was hospitalized with a bleeding problem that was a complication of her illness.

“For a week, Carol received more than one blood transfusion each day. The doctors said that she could die at any time, especially if they were not able to get the blood products that she needed. She was awake; she knew everything that was going on. And she was grateful to the unknown people who had donated the blood that the doctors were using to try to save her life,” the event website said.

Thanks to those donors, Axelrod left the hospital two months later and celebrated her 60th birthday. 

During the next year, she had blood transfusions least twice a week. However, she never regained strength to resume cancer treatments and died in 2008.

“Our family feels that we owe all the special memories of that last year to the generosity of blood donors,” the website said.

Donors who participate in the memorial blood drive will receive a gift bag, t-shirt and free entry into a prize drawing. For every unit of blood collected, Carol's family will make a donation to Laurel House, to help those affected by domestic violence.

To schedule an appointment, visit www.chablooddrive.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.