After being rushed to the hospital in critical condition, Katherine Rosen needed 68 pints of blood to survive.
Rosen, a third-year biochemistry student at UCLA, was stabbed five times during a class in Young Hall on Oct. 8. Third-year biochemistry student Damon Thompson has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the attack.
Rosen was treated for her injuries at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and was released home on Sunday. Still recovering, she said she is grateful for the care she received at the medical center.
“The nurses were really wonderful, and the doctors all had perfect bedside manner,” she said. “I’m really lucky I happened to be on a campus with the third best hospital in the nation.”
Rosen said she has come away from her ordeal with a new sense of appreciation for blood donors, in particular.
“I’ve donated blood a few times before, but I never really thought about how much it could affect other people,” she said. “Obviously they used quite a bit of blood for me, and I’m just really glad it was there.”
As much as 75 percent of the blood supplied to the Reagan hospital is contributed by the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, which operates blood donation facilities in Ackerman Union and in Westwood. Linda Goss, the center’s recruitment supervisor, visited Rosen while she was in the hospital to ask her if she would be willing to release information about how much blood she received to help remind people why it is important to donate.
“We find that crises motivate people,” Goss said. “There was a lot of interest in donating blood after the incident, and people were coming in asking what they could do to help.”
The UCLA center reaches out to students and faculty for blood donations, as well as to high schools in Los Angeles County.
Blood transfusions are required by many patients who undergo surgery, as well as by trauma victims and those who suffer from certain rare diseases.
Goss said she encourages anyone who is eligible to donate.
“It’s a chance to make a difference that doesn’t cost anything,” she said.
The UCLA center is currently gearing up to deal with the challenges of the winter season, when blood donations typically decrease because of an increase in illnesses and the absence of students over winter break.
The center held a blood drive this Tuesday through Thursday in the residential halls.
Faye Cortez, a community liaison for the center who helped to coordinate the blood drives, called them a huge success.
The center collected more than 300 pints in three days, Cortez said.
“Every donation can save up to three lives,” she said. “We transfuse approximately 100,000 units of blood every single year to our patients in our hospitals, and we hope to collect as much of that as we possibly can.”
James Larson, a first-year business economics student, donated blood for the first time Thursday.
Larson said he was initially afraid of fainting from giving blood. He was given a tip on breathing technique from the woman who checked him in, and he turned out to be fine.
Donating blood is important because it is something that cannot be manufactured, he said.
“The only way you can get blood is from humans, so you have to donate,” Larson said. “If you can help out, it’s good to do it.”
Blood donated to the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center supplies the Reagan hospital and the nearby Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.
The mission of the Blood and Platelet Center is to provide an adequate and safe supply of blood to patients at these hospitals and to provide donors with a rewarding experience, according to the center’s Web site.
With contributing reports from Sandy Bui, Bruin senior staff.