SAN ANTONIO – The memories of Mike Gallegos Jr. keep his family strong, even through the heartache of losing him.
“This cancer is killing our kids,” Mike Gallegos, his dad, said. “My son is one of them.”
Mike Jr., who was 16, died on July 9 after battling leukemia for ten months. Leukemia is a type of blood cancer. His family shares his story in the hopes that more people will donate blood.
“He needed a lot of platelets, and he needed a lot of blood,” Mike Gallegos said. “No matter what type of cancer it is, they all need blood.”
This comes as the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center reports a critically low blood supply.
“Right now, we send everything we collect right out,” Francine Pina, a senior manager of donor marketing at the center, said. “We need to rebuild our current inventory.”
The current inventory is so low Pina said the center was unable to help support Houston’s Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center after Hurricane Beryl. Right now, all blood types are needed, especially O-positive and O-negative.
“We need to rebuild our current inventory,” Pina said. “Most people don’t realize that 35% of all the blood goes to cancer patients.”
After Mike Jr. died, his family donated blood in his honor. And now, they’re calling on San Antonio to do the same.
“We need you to donate some blood,” Mike Gallegos said. “We’re going to do our part to keep my son’s memory alive and help donate blood.”
The family is working on creating and scheduling a blood drive to honor Mike Jr.
On Sunday, July 21, the family will have a balloon release at 11 a.m. at the Stevens High School Football Field. It’s open to the public, and his family asks people to bring balloons.
To help kids like Mike Jr., you can schedule a blood donation or blood drive by visiting SouthTexasBlood.org.