Blood donations help to save a St. Augustine 2-year-old’s life

Action News Jax and OneBlood are teaming up for the Spring Into Action Blood Drive now through Friday, May 10.

The Big Red Bus is outside of the Action News Jax studios until 4 p.m. Wednesday.

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And when you donate blood, you are saving someone’s life, like 2-year-old Violet Cruz.

Violet is an energetic toddler, who loves being outside and playing with her baby dolls.

Read: OneBlood, Action News Jax team up for the Spring into Action Blood Drive

With her excitement for life, you would never know the medical obstacles she faces.

“She was born prematurely, and she’s been getting blood transfusions from the time she was three weeks old until now,” Samantha Cruz, Violet’s mom, said.

Cruz said her daughter was born with Diamond Blackfan Anemia.

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“It basically is bone marrow failure syndrome, and it means her body can’t make red blood cells,” Cruz said.

Every three weeks, Cruz said they travel from the St. Augustine area to Jacksonville to receive her blood infusion at Nemours Children’s Health.

It is a process that takes the majority of the day and a lot of patience for a busy toddler.

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“For us, we manage her sustaining her life through blood transfusions and we can only do that with blood donors,” Cruz said.

Blood donations are what Cruz said keeps Violet alive along with so many others.

“Every day there are surgeries that happen, there are patients that need transfusions for different reasons to help sustain their lives, that’s every day,” Pat Michaels, the OneBlood director of media and public relations, said.

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