Tymia McCullough has received more than 50 blood transfusions throughout her life.
The bright 12-year-old from Georgetown, South Carolina, suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia, and her painful condition means she requires regular blood transfusions to survive.
Like a lot of girls her age, Tymia loves cheerleading and dancing. She dreams of being a pediatrician and a professional model one day.
But some days she’s too sick to go to school. The genetic disease, which causes her red blood cells to be crescent-shaped instead of round, can be debilitating, and even life threatening.
When she was 11 years old, she had an experience she never wants to have again.
The hospital didn’t have her blood type.
“It was the most frightening moment of our lives because at that moment I watched my daughter’s color fade, her activity started to lower, she needed oxygen,” her mother, Susie Pitts, told The Epoch Times.
“Just watching your child or your loved one deteriorate or fade in front of you ...”
Tymia and her mother waited and waited, hoping a unit of blood would arrive at the hospital.
8 hours later, a nurse rushed into Tymia’s hospital room. They had found the blood.
They both felt incredibly relieved. Pitts had to leave the room in tears.
“Those eight hours just sitting there was very frantic, very scary,” Pitts said.
Having endured such a terrifying experience, Tymia and her mom didn’t want to ever go through it again---or for it to happen to anyone else.
Tymia’s harrowing experience inspired her and her mother to motivate others to donate blood.
“Knowing that I needed the blood, I wanted to educate the world how important it is to give blood,” Tymia told The Epoch Times. “Because the blood helps people get better.”
In association with the American Red Cross, Tymia and her mother host blood drives. Tymia also raises awareness at speaking engagements.
Whatever problems Tymia herself faces, she and her mother are passionate about their advocacy work---and grateful for every donor.
So whenever Tymia gets a response to her awareness raising, she is delighted.