Paying it forward: Peters Township girl’s ordeal spurs parents to hold annual blood drive
Courtesy of Vitalant
Maddalena Tray received more than 40 liters of blood in the first 40 days of her life.
Each donation of blood played a crucial role in the recovery of Maddalena, who was diagnosed at birth with liver and kidney failure as well as possible brain damage.
That stuck with Maddalena’s mother, Nancy Tray, who saw a pamphlet about hosting a blood drive in honor of someone while her daughter was in UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for a procedure.
“I reached out to Vitalant and said I wanted to start doing these blood drives,” Tray said. “It was a sign that everything was going to work out with Maddalena. She had needed so much blood and we should pay it forward.”
This year, Tray and her family will hold the seventh annual Maddalena Tray Replenish the Need Blood Drive, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Peters Township Public Library, 616 E. McMurray Road, McMurray.
It didn’t always look as if everything was going to work out for the youngster, now 7.
“When she was born, it was a hard birth,” her mother recalled. “When she finally came out we didn’t get to see her right away. We didn’t know what was going on. She was in the corner of the room with a bunch of health-care professionals and they had to give her CPR.”
She was eventually transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC Children’s Hospital.
“They called it a birthing event or an injury,” Tray said. “Somehow, she lost a significant amount of blood and therefore was lacking oxygen going to her vital organs and her organs were starting to shut down. One of the tenured nurses said, ‘In my 20 years, I’ve never seen a newborn get so much blood.'”
Much medical intervention and therapy followed. Maddalena needed blood on many occasions.
“She would have a tendency to bleed wherever they put the lines and she had trouble clotting,” Tray said. “She had possible brain damage, a liver injury and kidney injury due to the lack of oxygen. At one point, she was 15 pounds as a newborn because she was so swollen because she couldn’t urinate.”
The second-grader at Pleasant Valley Elementary School and member of a local dance team has made great strides in her recovery. She still has chronic kidney disease and likely will someday need a kidney transplant. Her brain and liver are now functioning normally.
“Her kidneys unfortunately didn’t heal as well,” Tray said. “Of anything that could have happened this is probably the best-case scenario. To look at her, you can’t even tell. She acts normal. She plays normally. She’s a tough cookie.”
Watching her daughter’s ordeal has given Tray a great appreciation for blood donation. She said five million Americans per year need blood transfusions, and every two seconds someone needs blood in the U.S.
“There are so many people that need blood,” Tray said. “Donating is really a simple act of kindness, with such a great impact. I’m a huge advocate for blood donation.”
Anyone interested in participating in Maddalena’s drive can make an appointment by visiting vitalant.org, downloading the Vitalant app, or calling 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825). Use account code UZ0021026 to sign up for the replenishment drive on vitalant.org.