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North
Star donor Debora Kremer Smith.
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Heritage of Giving & Receiving
100th Blood Donation for North Star resident
GREENVILLE, Ohio - The life-sustaining cycle of giving and receiving
blood is well known in the North Star’s Kremer family. A legacy of
hemophilia across three generations has been a challenge and an
inspiration. It gave Debora Kremer Smith a particular sense of
pride when she made her milestone 100th lifetime blood donation Jan. 9
at the Greater Greenville Ministerial Association blood drive.
Debora’s parents Carl and Carolyn Kremer raised a family of four on
their dairy farm in North Star. Debora’s brothers Dan and Kevin
are both hemophiliacs. A generation later, Debora’s sons
Paul and Dean, ages 18 and 14, are hemophiliacs as well.
Dan and Kevin grew up in time when the clotting disorder was not well
understood and treatments were still developing. It meant many journeys
to Dayton in the dark of night for emergency care during bleeding
incidents.
But it was also an opportunity for the community to learn about
hemophilia and respond to the family by supporting blood drives.
At age 80, Carolyn has 118 lifetime donations and wants to keep
donating. Debora followed her mom’s example as a donor, and became a
nurse.
“I went to the Miami Valley School of Nursing, and those three years in
school I was very consistent donating,” said Debora. She worked at
Mercer Hospital in Coldwater and gave birth to her daughter
Carla. The challenge of raising two hemophiliac sons gave her a
better understanding of what her mother faced.
“It was much easier than for my mother, but you still fear the big
injury,” said Debora. “Boys are boys.”
Paul and Dean were able to play CYO basketball and fell in love with
swimming, with coaching from their dad.
It’s sobering to know that the Kremer family can never completely
ignore the heritage of hemophilia. The disorder is a recessive
trait passed on through the females. Dan’s daughter recently gave birth
to a son, and he is a hemophiliac.
A generational change in the treatment is the wide use of factor
concentrates that don’t have to come from human plasma donations.
“My boys’ treatment has been a protein that is artificial,” said
Debora. “They don’t have to have the protein from plasma anymore.
My brothers would have blood donated for them.”
That circle of giving and receiving that made their community
especially interconnected. For Debora, it’s a connection grown only
stronger over the Donor for Life journey of 100 donations.
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