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Family of 2-year-old transfusion recipient gives back during blood drive

At age 2, Grace Bertram is too young to give blood. But she isn't too young to inspire others to give. Grace was on hand with her family Sunday for the St. James Spring Blood Drive, which was held in her honor at the St. James Parish school cafeteria. Her parents, Mount Prospect residents Matt and Melissa Bertram were among more than 30 who gave blood at the event. Four blood transfusions helped save Grace's life, Melissa Bertram said. While Grace was still inside Melissa's body waiting to be born, she was diagnosed with isoimmunization, which occurs when a pregnant woman's blood protein is incompatible with the baby's, causing her immune system to react and destroy the baby's blood cells.

"Basically it means my blood sees her as a foreign antibody and tries to get rid of her like a virus," Melissa Bertram said. The Bertrams had to see a high-risk internal fetal medicine specialist at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Grace received four blood transfusions while she was still in utero. Melissa Bertram said she was strapped to a table while an ultrasound located Grace's umbilical cord. The blood was then transfused through the umbilical cord. It was a risky procedure, she said.

"With each transfusion, there is a risk. They told us it was like a 50-50 that she would make it," she said. The first transfusion was at 25 weeks and six days of the pregnancy. Without the blood transfusions, Grace would not have survived. "The only treatment for that at this current time is blood transfusions," she said.

Now Grace is, in the words of her mother, "a little spitfire."

After Grace's birth, her family began advocating for blood donations.

The family, including Grace and her brothers Charlie, 9, Eli, 8, and Noah, 5, were on hand.

The event was held by St. James, where the Bertrams are parishioners, in conjunction with Vitalant, one of the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit community blood service providers.

Holly Seese, marketing lead for Vitalant, said every two seconds in the U.S. someone needs blood.

She said Vitalant has 17 local centers in the Chicago area and does up to 10 mobile drives in a day.

"It's important right now because so many people are still fighting the flu and being sick and have a cold. The people that are healthy (should) give blood," Seese said. One pint of blood, she said, saves three lives. The blood is separated into three components. Red blood cells help trauma victims. Plasma aids burn patients. And platelets are used in clotting factors for trauma and chemotherapy patients.

Melissa Bertram holds 2-year-old Grace at Sunday's St. James blood drive. Photo courtesy of Vitalant. Photo courtesy of Vitalant
Sam Alcazar of Vitalant checks for a vain on Paul Srnak of Arlington Heights during the annual blood drive at St. James Catholic Parish, in honor of Grace Bertram, in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
Chuck Ressl of Mount Prospect reads a book while donating during the annual St. James Catholic Parish blood drive, in honor of Grace Bertram, in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
St. James Catholic Parish hosts its annual spring blood drive in honor of Grace Bertram, in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
Jim Weber of Arlington Heights donates blood at St. James Catholic Parish during its annual spring blood drive, in honor of Grace Bertram, in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
St. James Catholic Parish hosts its annual spring blood drive in honor of Grace Bertram in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
Donors wait their turn during the St. James Catholic Parish blood drive, in honor of Grace Bertram, in Arlington Heights on Sunday. Mark Black/for the Daily Herald
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