Zaion Huber was born at 30 weeks and passed away shortly after due to complications from his mother, Jill having Kell antibodies in her system, a condition in which the antibodies in a pregnant woman’s blood goes through the placenta and impacts the baby’s red blood cells, resulting in severe anemia.
Prior to being born Zaion received five intrauterine blood transfusions during pregnancy. The Huber family hosted a blood drive on June 25, 2021 in honor of Zaion.
Jill says because of Zaion and previous pregnancies their family has learned so much about Kell, including how to treat affected pregnancies and also that everyone needs to live life to its fullest every day.
“Nobody knows how many days or hours you have left here on this earth. Zaion lived for 26 hours and 26 minutes and impacted more lives than imaginable,” she added.
The family says blood donors help people in so many ways including babies. 36 units of blood were collected in honor of baby Zaion.
If you are healthy and feeling well, please visit redcrossblood.org schedule an appointment to schedule and appointment to donate at a blood drive near you.
Written by Communications Manager, Drew Brown
American Red Cross of Illinois 