Warren County Red Cross is asking local donors to make a special effort to come out to McMinnville Civic Center this Friday from noon to 6 p.m. for the special blood drive for Andy Dunn, the 5-year-old son of Dot and Daryl Dunn, who is suffering from stage 4 neuroblastoma, a devastating cancer which requires numerous blood transfusions and blood products during treatment.
The blood drive was originally designated as a Donor Appreciation Day, but after Andy was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital by LifeFlight helicopter on Friday, the Red Cross contacted the Dunns and offered to rededicate the blood drive in honor of Andy.
After a front-page story on Andy was published in the Standard in February, Dot said the county came out in droves to donate much-needed blood.
‘We had a huge, huge blood drive at Westwood,’ Dot said. ‘They collected 166 pints of blood which is almost unheard of.’
Dot, who is currently staying with her son at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, says the upcoming blood drive is crucial for all of the young patients in the cancer ward there.
‘We’ll be using a lot of blood. We’ll need a pint of blood today actually,’ Dot said. ‘This is the second one in a week. He uses a lot of blood, and the kids up here use a lot of blood because it’s the cancer ward. It’s just a devastating thing and we just need to see something good come out of something bad. So please come out and donate.’
Those who would like to visit the Web site devoted to Andy can do so at www.caringbridge.org. On the left side of the page is a box labeled ‘Visit a CaringBridge Web site’ where visitors can enter ‘andydunn’ (no spaces) to go to his personal Web pages, which include a journal and photo galleries.
Dot says so many have come forward to help Andy there’s no way to thank them all, but they want to tell everyone how much they appreciate everything the people in Warren County have done.
‘It’s been amazing,’ Dot said. ‘I don’t even know who to thank. It’s just been overwhelming, absolutely overwhelming, the love and support that Warren County has given us.’