John Potter
Channel 2 News
18-year-old Marina Corona has never given blood before. But what she and the rest of us have seen all too often on our TV screens compelled her to come to a cramped blood donation bus, parked in a small lot in Sparks. "I was heartbroken when I heard about first the shooting in Carson City and then the tragedy at the Air Races."
Twice in less than two weeks, we've been struck by unspeakable tragedies, tragedies that we all feel powerless to fix. Right now, we're just struggling to comprehend it all. The folks we found were doing what they could, donating for the victims who are still in the hospital. They swamped a Reno Rodeo blood drive that was scheduled 6 months in advance.
John Boyd, a financial advisor with Edward Jones, relaxed with a smile upon a couch, squeezing a foam ball as his blood went from his arm to a nearby pouch. "Right now I'd be sitting at my desk, probably having an appointment with a client." But giving up some income is a fair trade for what he hopes will be a lifesaving donation. "I hope it is. Hopefully we can give it to somebody who needs it.
Overseeing the blood drive was Marie Baxter, executive director of the Reno Rodeo Foundation. The turnout made the bus seem even smaller. "Our blood drives are typically well attended, but even this is better attended than our well attended events."
Marie was running the show herself. Her fellow Reno Rodeo Foundation members rushed off to the Reno Air Races office. They received an S.O.S. to help the swamped race officials answer their busy, constantly ringing phones.
Back inside the cramped blood bus, Hardy Mullennix tries to keep his emotions in check. "It just is...I think it's horrible." He works at Home Depot. Friday the 16th was just another day for him, until the store got noticeably quiet once people started coming in after 5:00. "It became very somber within the store. You know, the employees...the customers started hearing it over the radio."
Outside, Marina proudly sports her bandage. Said she now feels she has in her own small way helped some strangers she has never met. "You feel like even though you don't know them, you do know them, because we all have to live together."
What she did, may not be so small at all.
