Parents of infant who died in NICU hosting blood drive in son's memory

Blood donations are needed to help those in need. Denver Health is partnering with American Red Cross and the Cooper Steinhauser Foundation to get as much people to donate as possible.

The three organizations say every time a person gives blood, it saves up to three live. Anyone can give unless you have gotten a tattoo over the last six months, are anemic and have recently been out of the country.

Founders of the Cooper Steinhauser Foundation Haley and Edward Steinhauser met with CBS Colorado First Alert Traffic Tracker Reporter Brian Sherrod to discuss the importance of giving blood. This organization helps NICU infants and their mothers with blood transfusions. The Steinhausers lost their baby Cooper two years ago. He was a neonatal intensive care unit baby. He was born in February 2022 and passed away three months later in May.

Cooper had a total of 13 blood transfusions, after undergoing three surgeries. His mother Haley also received blood transfusions after delivery. This is why the Steinhausers are so passionate about giving blood and saving lives; it helped save theirs personally.

"Our son Cooper had 13 blood transfusions due to just daily blood test," Edward Steinhauser, founder of Cooper Steinhauser Foundation, said. "As a little baby, they don't produce their blood like adults do so they need to be replenished as well as surgeries."

"Someone needs blood every 2 seconds of every single day all across the world," Haley Steinhauser, founder of Cooper Steinhauser Foundation, said. "Blood is not replaceable. It's the only thing that you can give so people provide blood donations. It is important for survival, especially for young children."

The blood drive will run until 3 p.m. at Denver Health. If you can't make it and would like to give, you can head to CooperSteinhauserFoundation.org .