While being treated following a horrific head-on car crash involving a drunken driver, 22-year-old Lancey Robbins Leon discovered she had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Blood donors played a critical role in her cancer treatment and recovery from the accident. Doing well now, Lancey got married in July.
While being treated following a horrific head-on car crash involving a drunken driver, 22-year-old Lancey Robbins Leon discovered she had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The generosity of blood donors have played a key role in both her cancer treatment and her recovery from the crash. Here’s her story:
My husband and I were hit head on by a drunken driver late one night while driving home from Stanley Lake, Idaho. The oncoming car hit us going over 65 mph, even though I did everything I could to avoid the crash.
We were told we were very lucky to be alive.
I had to be cut out of the truck with the jaws of life and life flighted to the trauma unit at St. Alphonsus in Boise. My husband was driven by ambulance. He had climbed out through the windshield onto what remained of the hood and kept me from going into shock while we waited for paramedics to arrive.
His PCL in his left leg was torn and his right elbow was broken. There was a large gash through his eyebrow, and he'd fractured his sinus bone and face -- resulting in a small brain bleed that luckily stopped -- and a nasty concussion.
Of the three men in the other vehicle, only one survived.
The crash broke one of my ribs and both legs. My left ankle and foot were broken, and my pinky toe had to be sewn back on. My right ankle was severely broken as well. I would be lucky to walk normally again after a tough surgery.
While in the hospital, doctors discovered my lymph nodes were enlarged. After undergoing two biopsies, I was diagnosed with stage 2 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and would start chemotherapy treatments soon after my legs had healed enough for me to leave the hospital.
The cancer had caused me to be severely anemic. My blood levels were not only low from the anemia but also from the blood I had lost in the crash. I was given two blood transfusions as well as four iron transfusions.
Without these transfusions, my body wouldn't have been strong enough to make the recovery nor would I have been able to receive treatment for my cancer. I know it was an essential part of my healing, and I am extremely grateful to those willing to make the sacrifice to give blood.
Thanks to them, I will be able to fully recover and live out the rest of my life.
