Radio DJ To Thank Blood Donors For Saving His Life

February 1 , 2007

GRAND RAPIDS (February 1, 2007):  When the motorcycle he was riding on was hit by a car last September, B-93.7FM disc jockey Dave Conrad suffered five broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerations to right knee and toes, and a shattered left ankle – injuries that could have claimed his life, had not the gift of life been available from volunteer blood donors. On Thursday, February 1, 2007, at the annual Evening of Thanks hosted by Michigan Community Blood Centers at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville, Conrad will get a chance to thank blood drive organizers along with three individual blood donors whose blood helped save his life.

Conrad will be the feature speaker at the event, which will begin at 6 p.m. and will honor more than 500 area blood drive organizers. Other speakers will include Kris Bergh, a former blood drive chairperson at General Motors Metal Fabricating Division’s Grand Rapids plant; and Laura Miller, whose daughter, Jenna, needed blood soon after birth.

“Our speakers have very different stories to tell but the common bond between them is the need for blood and the lifesaving impact of this unique gift,” said Heidi McDaniel, director of Mobile Recruitment. “For the blood drive organizers being honored at Evening of Thanks, we hope that hearing directly from people whose lives have been affected by blood donations will add a special personal dimension to our overall message of gratitude.”

Conrad, now able to walk with a cane, has needed five surgeries so far to repair the injuries he incurred in the accident, which took place on 28th Street in Grand Rapids during a convoy ride highlighting B-93’s Roof-Sit for Kids 2006, an annual event to raise public awareness and funding for child abuse and neglect prevention and counseling programs in West Michigan.

“I was in the lead vehicle, in a sidecar, when we were struck by a car going 50 miles per hour,” he says. He recalls receiving blood transfusions during initial emergency treatment and also during follow-up café. “Besides orthopedic surgery to repair my ankle, I’ve needed skin grafts, too.”

An independent nonprofit blood bank, Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply for all hospitals in four major regions of the state, including all Kent and Barry County hospitals, with a combined population of approximately 1.5 million.  Besides recruiting blood donors and collecting blood, Michigan Community Blood Centers also recruits marrow donors, provides supportive services for transplant patients and their families, and operates Michigan’s first nonprofit cord blood bank.

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© Michigan Community Blood Centers