Friends and family of "Super" Sam Santhuff will partner with the American Red Cross July 29 to commemorate Sam's battle with a rare form of cancer and to raise awareness for childhood cancer patients' need for blood transfusions.
Cassie Santhuff, Sam's mother, said blood and platelet transfusions were instrumental to Sam's treatment and battle with cancer because they saved his life countless times.
"The chemo kills all of your cells, not just your bad cells but your good cells," Santhuff said. "In a situation like his, especially with his bone marrow being affected, he didn't produce platelets so he needed platelets constantly, which is one thing we hope to raise awareness for in our blood drive."
She remembers vividly how suddenly the transfusions would positively change Sam's appearance.
"We would see Sam go from being really pale and peaked and lethargic and he would get a blood transfusion and perk up," she said. "You could literally watch the color return to his face - it was amazing."
Santhuff recalled that Sam would receive a blood transfusion at least once a week, sometimes twice.
She said although Sam was fortunate that the hospital usually had his blood type available, there were times when no platelets were available because the demand was so high, so Sam had go without them. She recalled the situation as "terrifying" to experience as a parent.
"Sam had a good blood type to be able to share, but if anyone has a rare one, like "O', and your hospital is low on blood, that's not a good situation to be in," she said. "And that happens every day."
She hopes that more people realize how much they could profoundly impact so many people's lives just by occasionally giving blood.
"When one person goes and spends 45 minutes of their day a few times a year, that saves six different people's lives every time," Santhuff said. "That's huge."
The goal of the blood drive is for the Super Sam Foundation to continue to raise awareness for other children facing life-threatening illnesses who, like Sam, will also need several blood transfusions each week. Santhuff mentioned that she wants the drive to focus not just on the memory of her son, but to also shed light on two other children battling cancer - one Fulton boy and another boy who used to live in Callaway County.
"We want to help them see it's (the drive) not just in Sam's memory," she said. "It's not just to say that we want to do this because we want to help kids like Sam. There are literally kids waiting for this blood in hospitals right now."
She said when people see pictures of Sam and the other two local boys, she wants them to associate urgency with donating blood and understand that the drive is not for a generic reason.
"A lot of times you see blood drives happen and it's just a routine thing," Santhuff said. "You see a (Red Cross) sign and you're like "yup, there's another one, there's another one, and they also keep calling me a lot. And for us, we want to try to put a face on it. We want people to realize who they're really helping. You're not only helping somebody who was maybe in a wreck and needs emergency blood. You're helping adult cancer patients and children. I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact that kids benefit from this, too."
The blood drive will be held from noon to 6 p.m. July 29 at First Christian Church in Fulton.
The Super Sam Foundation will host its first Hope Gala, a semiformal event at the Columbia Event Center September 25. Tickets are $50, and include dinner, entertainment, activities and a silent auction. Santhuff said those interested in purchasing tickets should contact her at [email protected].