AURORA, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The second annual “A pint for Kim” blood drive Saturday at the Aurora Municipal Airport aims not only to break records but also to raise awareness of the need for blood donations on a regular day-to-day basis.
On track to beat the Guinness World Record for pints of blood donated at a single location, the drive’s namesake is Kim Sandford, who passed away last year after an eight-year battle with three different types of cancer.
Sanford received around 100 hundred blood transfusions in just the last three months of her life explained Kristyn Benedyk who held the first “A pint for Kim” just five days after her sister’s death.
Last year, the first “A pint for Kim” drive broke the state record with over 500 pints of blood.
“Set the state record for single day, single location blood drive,” Benedyk told WBBM Newsradio.
Benedyk said that blood transfusions become crucial for cancer patient survival from complications such as chemotherapy-induced anemia.
She said while her sister Kim did not survive a rare form of cancer, the blood transfusions gave her a little extra time to leave the hospital, go home and bake cookies with her son.
A photo of that moment sticks out with Benedyk anytime she hears the words blood drive.
“The look on his face... that only happened because blood donations allowed her to go home and do that and that was the last time she was home before she passed away,” Benedyk said.
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