Twenty years before Ashley Park could celebrate starring in “Emily in Paris” and becoming a Tony-nominated Broadway actor, she sat alone in the hospital getting blood transfusions for hours to treat leukemia.
Park, 35, can still recall the isolation of in-patient treatment as a 15-year-old at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
But she says she didn’t feel completely alone: There were the anonymous blood donors responsible for the transfusions helping to save her life.
“I remember vividly thinking sometimes, I guess this two-hour-long transfusion, it kind of feels like someone’s there with me,” Park told Sheinelle Jones and Justin Sylvester on TODAY Sept. 24.
Park is now a paid spokesperson for global healthcare company Abbott and promoting its We Give Blood initiative in partnership with the Big Ten, a conference of 18 universities. The blood drive aims to tackle the national blood shortage by encouraging fans and alumni of Big Ten schools to donate.
Park was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a sophomore in high school. She went into remission after about eight months of treatment. Only nurses, doctors, her mother and her grandmother were allowed to be around her during that time due to her illness, but she said she found solace in gratitude for blood donors.
“When you’re feeling the most alone, just remember that people are giving part of themselves to help somebody they’ll never meet,” Park said. “And also remember that when you’re also donating.”
Park is a Big Ten alumnae as a 2013 graduate of the University of Michigan — a conference rival to Sheinelle’s alma mater, Northwestern University. The initiative is also a competition, and the school with the most donations will receive a $1 million grant for student or community health. (The University of Wisconsin–Madison is currently in first.)
Park noted that 20% of blood donors are over 65, so the university-themed initiative aims “to encourage this whole new generation of donors that are going to help build this donor base for the next decades to come.”
The “Emily in Paris” star, who just wrapped the sixth and final season of the Netflix hit, knows she would have never realized her acting dreams without life-saving treatment as a teen.
“A huge part of my treatment, I was heavily reliant on blood and platelet transfusions,” she said. “This entire life, I was given through blood donations.”
She said a third of the donors in the initiative said they were giving blood for the first time, and 96% said they will do it again.
“My message first is to anyone donating blood, thank you so much,” she said. “I think 10 minutes out of your day and one donation, you’re helping save a life.”