Blood on his Shirt

Firefighters, doctors, and National Guards have been praised for their swift response to Tuesdays heinous attacks. But these emergency teams in New York werent the only people quick to react. Within an hour of the tragedy, Winthrop House resident Taylor R. Terry 03 was running wildly around the University, encouraging students to donate blood.

Terry first heard of the attacks while sitting in his common room. I was so freaked out that to just do anything seemed like the right thing to do, he remembers. Although he and his roommates had heard no hospital reports, Terry assumed the hospitals were filling up in New York. After listening to news reports and talking to a roommate who worked at a medical clinic this past summer, Terry realized that donating blood would be the most immediate thing that someone could do from afar. He began gathering his blockmates when another idea struck him. If we could get our 15 blockmates together, there is no reason we couldnt get 150 more.

Terry grabbed a white T-shirt, stretched it over an empty box, and wrote PLEASE GIVE BLOOD with a black Sharpie. The gravity of the situation developing on TV affected his penmanship. As he explains, the message is crooked and I think I spelled something wrong on it.

But Terrys message was legible and actually informed some students that a crisis was unfolding. Winthrop resident Paul R. Berman 04 saw Terry running frantically from his house Tuesday morning. I was kind of out of it, but I saw some dude in a T-shirt running around asking people to give blood. I figured there must have been something going on. Terry proceeded to the Kennedy School of Government, where he assumed people would be in the Forum room watching CNN on the big screen. Little did he know that an actual presentation was going on. He ran through the Forum room shouting at, in his best estimate, 300 surprised Kennedy students. I think they were angry, Terry notes.

After that I took off through the Yard and headed to registration. I flagged everyone I saw. Terry still wasnt sure where or how students could make donations. I was just trying to remind people that this was something that needed to be done and I hoped that they could work the details out for themselves. He concluded his run about two hours later, after visiting UHS. A pretty freaked out receptionist encouraged Terry to send everyone you can round up.

According to UHS doctor Frank Wang, some 1,100 students had signed up for information on blood donation by last Thursday. Terry can take at least partial credit. As Ryan N. Wilkes `04 explains, I didnt actually see him, but I heard through my friends. He was brave enough to ruin his T-shirt. The least I can do now is give some blood.

Although he felt a bit stupid after barging into the Kennedy School, Terry has no regrets. He never feared being viewed as bizarre. I dont think that people were shocked by anything that day.