March is Red Cross Month: Alison Cook
646 views · Published 9 March 2009 · 1:01 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: American Red Cross · 2009 · Nonprofits & Activism
Red Crosser Alison Cook is helping us celebrate Red Cross Month by telling her story. How did you get involved with the Red Cross? I was drawn to the American Red Cross as a way to help give back a gift of life I received over 10 years ago, after being involved in a rollover motor vehicle accident. As a Fire Chief in a nearby city, my father was accustomed to receiving late-night emergency calls, and was familiar with the need for blood in the community. This need hit close to home the night I was taken by helicopter to a local hospital, where I would remain in intensive care for several months. At one point, my family was notified I would likely not live through the night. During the course of my year-long recovery, I received over 25 units of blood directly from the American Red Cross. Even more meaningful was the outpouring of support I received from the community. Over 300 people in the town came out to donate at three blood drives held in my honor. Some of those people, such as the town's own Mayor, were first-time donors that made a pact to make blood donation a part of their regular charity efforts. The gift of life I received resonated with me for years to come, and I eventually joined the American Red Cross family to help share that mission with the community. What is your current role at the Red Cross? Today, I am the Supervisor of the Texas Region's Donor Resource Development team. Meeting longtime donors at blood drives in the Dallas area, I often wonder if perhaps they were the ones that helped save my life all those years ago. How has the Red Cross changed your life? After the accident, time has been marked by the moment my Careflight helicopter landed and I transitioned from the life of a teenager, full of vigor and on my way to college on a full scholarship, to the life of a trauma patient, fully reliant on machines to even take the next breath. The units of blood that the American Red Cross supplied to my hospital reversed what seemed at the time almost irreversible. I was given the chance to heal, go to college, meet my husband, travel abroad, and experience all the small and precious milestones of life that I came very close to missing. The next time I returned to the Methodist Hospital of Dallas, I was coming to work and wearing an American Red Cross badge!
