BOISE, Idaho — The family of a 12-year-old cancer patient teamed up with Red Cross to organize a blood drive at a Boise middle school on Friday.
Ethan Nguyen was diagnosed with leukemia last year and has been battling the disease ever since. Throughout the course of his treatment, he's needed several blood transfusions, which has been difficult to get amid a nationwide blood shortage.
To ensure Ethan and all other families have access to the blood they need, his family organized a Red Cross blood drive at East Junior High on Friday.
This is not the first blood drive the family has organized. 52 people signed up to donate blood at their last drive, but this year, 60 people signed up.
"We're Ethan strong," said Sanda Bosnjack, one of Ethan's relatives. "We're here to give blood. We're here to help out."
The American Red Cross said they and other health systems are experiencing an emergency blood shortage nationwide. Officials said they need to collect more than 10,000 units of blood to get caught up, which is a challenge because only 3% of Americans donate blood.
"We've realized there was a shortage and there was a time we were afraid [Ethan] wouldn't have enough blood and the Red Cross would run out of blood for him," said Azra Bosnjack, Ethan's aunt.
As a teacher at East Junior High, Azra Bosnjack was able to hold a blood drive in the school gymnasium. Ethan would typically attend a blood drive, but he was admitted to the hospital earlier in the week.
"We're all a little bit sad that he's not here because he's definitely our cheerleader, but we're still putting it on for him and we've FaceTimed him, so he's still here with us even if he's not physically here with us," she said. "Our biggest message here is that Ethan is such a strong boy and such a strong warrior. Even though he's taken this insane treatment, he's found ways to be a mascot for kids in his position and help us make this a better world by putting on these blood drives."
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