Tim Grant still wears the jacket recognizing his former workplace, Allis State Park, as park of the year in 1997. Tim will never again be a state park worker, but the blood transfusions he received over the last year at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph have at least gotten him back onto his feet.

The East Roxbury resident used to spend most of his time outdoors – he worked at a Randolph driving range as well as the state park, played softball, jogged, mountain biked, rode a motorcycle and hunted and fished. But a more than 25-year battle with Crohn’s, a serious gastrointestinal disease, left Tim in need of surgeries to remove his intestines and physically wiped out.

Because of his disease, Tim was losing blood, which carries essential oxygen. “I couldn’t walk without getting out of breath. I was totally exhausted,” says Tim, just 46-years-old.

Tim has been receiving blood at Gifford Medical Center about every four months.

“It’s very important for me to get it,” Tim says. “It gets me out of bed. At least I can go out and walk a little. Without it, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”

“It’s very important for people to realize how important it is to give blood,” Tim says.

Red Cross blood donors help patients just like Tim in cities and towns throughout New England and across the United States. Please….give blood.

Patient Stories