Kenny Chesney packed a unit of his own blood in a red cooler in Roanoke on a cold morning in December. It was the kind of brittle cold that makes you cry, then freezes your eyelashes together with the tears. And it was the kind of red plastic cooler you’d find at Virginia Tech tailgates, except the top of this cooler was stamped BIOHAZARD. BLOOD USE ONLY was blazoned on the side.
Chesney has pink cheeks that Santa would envy, a perfectly clipped white beard, and 37 years of experience as a medical courier. He has spent the last three months as the supervisor of courier services for The Blood Connection, a nonprofit organization with over 20 community blood centers.
TBC supplies blood products to about 130 hospitals in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and now — with the opening of its two new blood collection centers in Roanoke and Danville — Virginia.
‘One big family’
In a low-slung building that used to be David’s Bridal, blood donors recline on black medical tables while phlebotomists in matching black scrubs wipe the inside crooks of their elbows with antiseptic before using sterile, disposable needles to collect blood into thick, clear pouches…