By ARCAN Board member, Roger Lowe

“I owe my life to the skill and dedication of my doctors, nurses, and surgeon, the support of my family and friends, and the blood donors whose generosity made those transfusions possible.”

Stephanie Millian never imagined during her American Red Cross career promoting blood donations that she herself would need lifesaving blood.

But that’s exactly what happened in 2005 when she was hospitalized with a massive blood clot and multiple pulmonary emboli, which led to five days in intensive care during a three-week hospital stay. As the medical team tried multiple clot-busting procedures and inserted a filter to prevent additional clots from reaching her lungs, Stephanie’s platelet and red blood cell counts dropped dangerously low. 

“One moment from the ICU has stayed with me ever since: my doctors asked whether I would accept a blood transfusion and told me that without it, I would not survive,” she recalls. She received several platelet transfusions and a red blood cell transfusion, which gave her body enough strength for the doctors to successfully dissolve the clot.

“In the days, weeks, and years that followed, more than one physician told me they didn't expect me to survive,” she said. “Recovery was long and challenging; I spent three months relearning how to walk, one step at a time...."

Read the full story

By Roger Lowe

“I remember going to their huge and extensive basement [in Poland] where they keep all the paper files of the people from the Holocaust that the Red Cross has worked over all these decades to link family members – from the time of the horrible death camp releases to very recently.”

Sue Hassmiller decided to devote her life to the Red Cross when she was 20 and the organization helped her find her parents after a Mexico City earthquake. It was the beginning of a Red Cross journey that would last 50 years and include roles at every level of the organization, nearly every part of its service, disasters of all sizes and national leadership. 

“I have loved every minute and consider it all a privilege to be part of this family,” she said.

Sue has been a member of the Board of Governors, chair of several local boards, a founding member of the Tiffany Circle in the New Jersey region and a longtime member of the National Nursing Committee. She has responded to disasters such as the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Only two of her 50 years have been as a paid staffer, the rest have all been volunteer roles.

She gives out two national awards each year to deserving volunteers....