Hundreds of people rolled up their sleeves Saturday to help save lives during the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 10th Annual Touchdown for Life Blood Drive at the Prime F. Osborn Convention Center.
The event, hosted in partnership with OneBlood, encouraged community members to donate blood during one of the most challenging times of the year for maintaining a strong blood supply. Donors received a Jacksonville Jaguars preseason home game ticket and a limited-edition T-shirt.
Among those who donated were Katie and Nathan, a Jacksonville couple who have made blood donation an annual tradition for the past 18 years.
“We wanna make sure we give back and save lives,” Katie said.
Their commitment to donating stems from a deep personal experience.
After giving birth to their oldest daughter 18 years ago, Katie suffered life-threatening complications and required multiple blood transfusions to survive.
“Our oldest daughter, when she was born, I actually needed a few units of blood because I mean, if not, I would’ve died and he would’ve been alone with one little girl,” Katie said.
Since then, the couple has returned every year, hoping their donations will help another family facing a medical emergency.
“It makes me happy and I know that somebody out there is either doing better or possibly still alive because of this,” Katie said.