Blood transfusions saved the life of a local toddler battling cancer

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Danielle Bradford’s daughter, Amelia Radford, was saved by blood transfusions while she battled cancer, and Danielle is spreading awareness.

“Around September of 2020, she got a little bruise under her eye and she was just a wiggly baby so I didn’t think anything of it,” said Radford.

But when Amelia’s eye started to drift, she took her to a hospital

“We went into the hospital thinking maybe she had some sort of head injury, ‘cause all we saw was her eye was misaligned and a bruise,” added Radford. “But we never thought we were going to hear the word cancer.”

At only 8 months old, Amelia was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma.

“With the treatments and to keep her on track, she did receive multiple blood transfusions both with the blood cells and the platelets,” explained Bradford.

After multiple blood transfusions and 8 rounds of chemo, Amelia was declared cancer-free in September 2021.

“She just got to have a little bit of more normalcy when she got that,” added Radford. “And that’s why we have a heart with what the Red Cross does with donations.”

The family now hosts an annual blood drive in May to commemorate the day Amelia was able to ring the bell and declare she was cancer-free.

“We hope that she can absolutely stay cancer-free, and she would just have minimal side effects for things and that she can just continue to be an advocate to raise awareness and help people understand what she went through and what other people go through,” said Radford.

Amelia’s story is one story out of millions. You can help give the gift of life at a blood drive hosted by WDBJ7 in a partnership with American Red Cross every Wednesday in July. The American Red Cross said it’s in desperate need for blood donors this summer.

All you have to do is click here and enter promo code WDBJ7 to sign up for a time and location.