By Eileen Godin

egodin@timesleader.com

Misericordia University’s Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Dawn Evans donates blood during the David Evans Jr. Memorial Blood Drive Thursday. David was her 16-year-old son.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL091415Blood-Drive1.jpg.optimal.jpgMisericordia University’s Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Dawn Evans donates blood during the David Evans Jr. Memorial Blood Drive Thursday. David was her 16-year-old son.

David Evans Jr.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Evans101.jpg.optimal.jpgDavid Evans Jr.

DALLAS — Remembering one young man while providing life to someone else attracted over 100 donors to the David Evans Jr. Memorial Blood Drive at Misericordia University Thursday.

The blood drive, held annually, is the first year it was named in memory of a faculty member’s deceased son.

“We had 122 appointments with an average three walk-ins per hour,” Christine Slacktish, coordinator of Planning and Institute Effectiveness at Misericordia University said.

Last year, the blood drive drew in about 40 donors, she said.

“Memorial blood drives often attract more donors,” Mike Quint, director of the Geisinger Blood Center, said.

Anticipating a crowd, Quint set up 12 blood donation stations and had a total of 17 staff members, 13 of whom were phlebotomists.

The need for blood donations are always in demand, he said.

“About 20 to 100 units of blood are used for one trauma patient,” Quint said. “Geisinger Health Care System uses about 25,000 units of blood a year.”

The continuous flow of blood donors brought tears to Dawn Evan’s eyes. Her son, David Evans Jr. died in April 2014 at age 16.

Evans, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Misericordia University, her husband, David A., and their daughter Morgan had to come to grips with the unexpected loss of David.

He committed suicide, Evans said.

“There were no warning signs,” Evans said. “We had dinner every night at the same time together. We all did things together.”

The university members rallied in supported Evans and her family.

Evans and her son were active on campus. He participated in various volunteer opportunities with Evans’ club, Misericordia University Student Occupational Therapy Club, since the age of 5.

“He played football. He taught himself to play the guitar,” she said. “He wanted to be a writer and attend Misericordia.”

David was a junior at Holy Redeemer High School at the time of his death.

The blood drive is just the first step in a plan to create several programs to bring suicide awareness and prevention to the limelight, Slacktish said.

Currently, Evans and her husband David created a scholarship fund from memorial donations.

This year, five 2015 graduates from Holy Redeemer High School each received $1,000 scholarship, Evans said.

Plans to establish a program on campus for high school students about suicide prevention are in the works, Slacktish said.

“This is just the first step,” Slacktish said. “We are planning events for next year.”

Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews