A new Vitalant volunteer, Bob Hiebert’s personal experience with the need for blood infuses his life with love, gratitude, and an awareness of grace for the day unfolding before him—but also an awareness of blood and what it can do for patients. 

In the early 1990s, Bob was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare disease that results in the destruction of red blood cells which in turn leads to severe anemia and puts patients at risk of life-threatening thrombotic events. His unusual symptoms made it difficult for doctors to figure out what was going on. When he was finally diagnosed with PNH, his medical team monitored him for a few years, recommending blood transfusions in the early years after his diagnosis. 

His need for transfusions increased in frequency from once or twice a year to many times a month. Bob sensed that his condition would shorten his lifespan; with two young sons at the time and as a man of faith, he courageously moved forward with a bone marrow transplant in 2001 with his brother as his matched donor. Bob estimates that he received well over 150 blood transfusions and is deeply grateful for good medical care, his supportive family, a compassionate workplace, and the gift of blood donors. 

It’s been a hard road, but Bob is now over 20 years post-transplant and celebrates life with gusto! The best surprise of all was the birth of his third son, a “miracle baby” born on Christmas Day a few years after his marrow transplant.