© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Idaho Red Cross expands in Nampa and Twin Falls

Shandra Sterner outside the hospital with her family and her newborn son Kyler.
Red Cross of Idaho
Shandra Sterner outside the hospital with her family and her newborn son Kyler.

People who give blood in Idaho helped save the life of Shandra Sterner in September.

Shandra gave birth to her son Kyler in Twin Falls this fall and began bleeding uncontrollably. For the next four days and seven surgeries, doctors tried to find out where she was bleeding internally.

She was kept alive thanks to blood donated by people in Boise, Pocatello and Twin Falls. By the time doctors found the problem, Shandra needed close to 90 pints of blood, eleven gallons, to stay alive.

Fortunately for Shandra and other people who need blood, Idaho and Montana are two of the top-producing blood states in the nation and because of that, the Red Cross is building two new blood donation centers in Nampa and Twin Falls.

Shandra Sterner and the CEO of the American Red Cross of Idaho, Montana and east Oregon, Nicole Sirak-Irwin joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this story.

Stay Connected
As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life!). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.