TroyStrong Red Cross blood drive set June 21 in Havre

Havre Daily News staff

A boy paying it forward for supplies that helped save his life has a Red Cross blood drive scheduled in Havre Wednesday.

The family of Troy Ross, whose 9th birthday is this month, helped organize eight blood drives across the state.

Six years ago, Troy was in Seattle battling a rare immune disease and had to have three-quarters of his blood replaced, blood available due to blood donations, a press release about the TroyStrong blood drives said.

He has been in remission for one year.

For the past six years, his family has helped organize TroyStrong blood drives to help Red Cross collect much-needed blood.

Six years ago, Troy Ross was in a hospital bed in Seattle battling for his life. Today, the Great Falls 8-year-old is back to being a kid again — hitting home runs, scoring touchdowns and camping with his family.

Diagnosed with a rare immune disease, Troy was airlifted to the Seattle Children’s Hospital in 2017. Over the course of the next month, three-quarters of his blood supply had to be replaced — blood available because of the generosity of blood donors.

To say thanks and pay it forward for other families going through similar struggles, Troy’s family is helping organize eight Red Cross blood drives across Montana this summer.

This marks the sixth consecutive year the Ross family has helped coordinate drives.

“I’m just honored and blessed that a little boy can inspire so much good for this world,” his father, Wes Ross, said in the release. “The support we receive is so humbling and just truly a testimony of what good things can happen when good people focus on the positive and helping the next person in need.”

The Havre blood drive is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday at St. Jude Parish Center, 440 Seventh Ave.

People can schedule an appointment to donate at one of these drives by visiting RedCrossBlood.org and entering the sponsor code TroyStrong or call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767). A blood donation takes less than an hour, and a single donation can save more than one life.