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Jacksonville mom says blood transfusions saved daughter's life

It’s the season of giving and a Jacksonville mother who said her daughter received the ultimate gift 15 years ago is hoping you’ll give that same gift to someone else.

Kara Culvert spent the first few months of her life in the intensive care unit.

“We were told three different times that she wasn’t going to live through the night,” her mother, Kathy Calvert, said.

Kara is now a healthy 15-year-old girl and her mother credits lifesaving blood transfusions for that.

“Without those blood transfusions, she would not be alive today,” Kathy Culvert said.

Culvert said she is now a lifelong blood donor and encourages others to donate blood.

“My folks raised me with the concept of civic responsibility, civic duty,” Gus Raiford said.

We joined him as he donated blood on the LifeSouth bus Tuesday.

He said he’s donated a total of almost 7-½ gallons of blood.

“It’s not a big deal. It only takes a few minutes,” Raiford said. “You sit here and you can save people’s lives.”

LifeSouth is the sole supplier of blood to many hospitals in Jacksonville.

With the season of giving upon us, the organization wants you to consider giving something that won’t cost you anything, but goes a long way.

“You get to save three people’s lives, and that makes a big impact in our community,” LifeSouth employee Jasmine Flemmings-Kincade said.

Kathy Culvert said that it meant everything to her family.

“We would not have Kara with us today if we did not have people who donated blood and plasma,” she said. “That saved her life.”

If you’d like to learn more about donating blood this holiday season, visit lifesouth.org.