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Patient Stories

George Cretekos

Janet Crouse

George Cretekos leads by example. He has a long history of serving others. For 35 years, George served in both Pinellas County and Washington, D.C. as aide to U.S. Representative C.W. Bill Young. He then continued his service in the Clearwater City Council and now serves as Mayor of Clearwater.

Mayor Cretekos gave his first blood donation in the late 1960s at Davidson College, but he didn’t become a regular donor until the late 1970s when it became personal. A friend’s husband needed life-saving blood donations during heart surgery, and George responded.

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Elijah Cook

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Janis

Janis

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LaDonna Jordan

LaDonna Jordan

Like many disorders, the effects of sickle cell disease can vary widely from patient to patient. For LaDonna Jordan, the painful and life-threatening symptoms associated with sickle cell disease began at age seven. Her father tried to wake her for school, but found...