Local family hosts blood drive in memory of son

“From the moment I saw him-his big beautiful eyes, his old wise wise soul, taught me more about myself than I could ever imagine. He is a light. He’s just the sunshine in our life,” says Alissa Vatters, whose son Owen was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect before he was born. He passed away when he was 16 weeks old.

“He had open heart surgery at 1 day old. Again at 9 weeks, and the numerous amounts of blood that was donated saved our son and gave us one more opportunity, one more chance, one more memory.”

Vatters and her family now celebrate what would have been Owen’s third birthday with an annual blood drive.

Donors from throughout the Coachella Valley came to Sacred Heart Church and School to give blood through LifeStream, which provides blood to local hospitals.

We’re told by a LifeStream representative the event has collected over a 100 pints of blood in total over the last two years. The family hopes to collect 100 in this year’s event alone.

To find out if you qualify to donate blood, visit LifeStream online.