Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 15 No. 3 | December 2022

People often ask me what’s my passion for speaking up about the American Red Cross and the importance of donating blood. I mean, if I’m being completely honest, I never donated blood or even thought about donating until it literally saved my life. It was back in March, two weeks after we came back from the NCAA Tournament in Spokane. I’d been feeling kind of sick and was sleeping a lot. But like most things, you just brush that kind of stuff off and keep on going, right? That’s what I did, and it ended up being a big mistake. Once I got back home, I found out I had mono. But it hadgone undetected for somanymonths that my body was starting to shut down, and I needed blood transfusions. My first stay in the hospital lasted four days, from March 30 to April 2 and included five total transfusions. My second stay came a week later, from April 9 to the 10th and I underwent three transfusions during that time. When you’re super young, there are times when you start to think you’re invincible, you know? That nothing will ever happen to you. I made that mistake once already, and I don’t ever plan on making it again. 12 Inside Hokie Sports Continued on page 14 Change in A

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