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Mother Whose Son Was Saved By Blood Donors Encourages People To Give Blood

DENVER (CBS4) - For Brittany Heckenberg, service is in her blood, quite literally. Heckenberg started donating to Vitalant's blood banks after her family's need for blood was urgent a little over a year ago.

Her 3-year-old son, who fondly goes by "Superman Henry," suddenly became ill back in 2017 with a rare blood disorder. That disorder, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, causes a person's body to destroy red blood cells quicker than it's able to produce them.

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Over a period of months, however, Henry got healthy. He relied on blood donations from 19 strangers to save his life.

Soon after, his family members started a blood drive in his honor. They say that if blood donations can change their lives, they want to pay it forward and help others also.

"I mean, truly. You're being someone's hero and you're saving someone's life. There is such a faceless act in giving blood. You look at Henry's face and think he had 19 people step up and give him life, essentially," Heckenberg said.

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The blood drive is coming up in May, around Henry's birthday.

"We're not asking for money. We're not asking for anything. We're just asking for your blood and it takes about 20-30 minutes. The more blood we can get in our banks, the better off we are and the better off our community is," she added.

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Aside from that, Henry is asking everyone to get out and donate, because it could save a life, much like it did his.

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