When you think of the word epic, what comes to mind? We think giving blood is an epic act of kindness and generosity, and blood donors are among the most heroic folks around.
That’s why we wanted to award two amazing blood donors with epic vacations to Universal Epic Universe theme park.
Donors who gave blood May 1-31 were automatically entered for a chance to win one of two family vacation packages. The packages included four tickets for Universal Epic Universe theme park at Universal Orlando Resort. They also included a travel voucher to cover four airline tickets and hotel accommodations in Orlando, Fla., along with a $2,500 prepaid electronic gift card. Each total prize package was valued at up to $12,500.
Out of the thousands of donors who gave blood in May, two donors — and their lucky travel companions — won the vacation package. A random drawing took place and coincidentally, both donors hail from Colorado.
Matthew B. is our first vacation winner. Matthew has given blood 10 times with Vitalant, all of which are whole blood donations. His winning donation took place May 14 at a donation center.
Our second winner is Kato M. Kato has given at multiple blood drives and donation centers over the years and has 22 lifetime donations with Vitalant. His winning whole blood donation occurred May 8 at a blood drive.
Kato was kind enough to share some of his story with us. The story begins at age 18, when he enrolled in college on the path to becoming a doctor.
“I wasn’t chasing parties or road trips. I was chasing purpose. I was fueled by the hope that I could help people live longer, healthier lives,” he says.
To afford school, Kato became a medic, spending his nights and weekends working on ambulances at the local hospital's Level 1 trauma center. On occasion, he found himself standing next to a coroner in a cold, silent autopsy suite.
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"We all say we want to make the world a better place. But most of us wait for the big moment; the right cause, the perfect timing, the grand gesture. I’ve come to believe it’s the quiet acts, the ones no one sees, that shape the world for the better. Giving blood is one of those activities. It’s not glamorous. It won’t go viral. But it saves lives; not metaphorically, but literally.” - Kato M., Epic Giveaway winner
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“While most of my friends just studied biology from textbooks, I learned it from the broken bodies of accident victims and overdose patients. I saw life disappear in the span of a heartbeat. I watched countless families collapse into grief in ER waiting rooms. And I held the hands of strangers who didn’t want to die alone.”
One day, after losing a patient who bled out before they could get her to the hospital, Kato heard the ER nurse say something that has never left him: “We were out of O-negative again.”
“She didn’t say it with anger, just quiet frustration,” he says. “And while I had no idea what blood type that young woman was, it didn’t really matter. What hit me was the realization that even if we’d made it to the hospital in time … it still might not have been enough. Not if there was no blood on the shelf. That was the day I decided to start donating blood. I didn’t do it to be noble. I did it because I was angry — angry that something so simple could make the difference between life and death, and yet so few of us made time for it. That first donation felt like a tiny rebellion against helplessness.”
Kato was 19 at the time of that first donation and is now 56. He’s changed careers and zip codes since then, but his blood donation habit has remained consistent.
“I have no idea how many people my blood has helped. Maybe it was a child in surgery. A grandmother during chemo. A soldier flown in from overseas. Maybe someone lived to walk their daughter down the aisle. Maybe someone else had one more Christmas. I’ll never know.
“But that’s not the point. The point is, I could. So, I did. We all say we want to make the world a better place. But most of us wait for the big moment; the right cause, the perfect timing, the grand gesture. I’ve come to believe it’s the quiet acts, the ones no one sees, that shape the world for the better. Giving blood is one of those activities. It’s not glamorous. It won’t go viral. But it saves lives; not metaphorically, but literally.”
For Kato, his life is measured not just in years, but in how many people he’s helped along the way.
“In less than an hour, you can be the reason someone else gets another chance. Another birthday. Another sunrise. Another laugh. So, I’m asking you, from one human being to another, to roll up your sleeves and be someone’s miracle. It’s one of the simplest, most profound things you’ll ever do.”