Madelyn recalls dyeing her hair purple a few days before starting treatment. It was a way of taking back control before chemotherapy, a flash of color and courage before everything changed. A few months before beginning her junior year at Watertown-Mayer High School, she was learning words no teenager expects to learn – port, infusion, transfusion.
Just four days after her 16th birthday, she started treatment. While other teenagers were focusing on getting their driver’s license, she was looking forward to finishing chemotherapy that October. Soon it was homework and hospital visits, all during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Madelyn benefitted from donated blood to get through her chemotherapy.
“Getting transfusions were incredibly beneficial for my treatment. The energy was back, and I could feel more like myself again.”
Looking back, she says it feels surreal to realize how far she’s come since then. Recently, she reached a milestone she once only hoped for – five years cancer-free.
Now a senior theater major at the University of Minnesota, Madelyn carries that experience with quiet strength and a clear sense of purpose. She’s using her story to encourage others through the Abbott and the Big Ten’s “We Give Blood” competition, a friendly way for universities to inspire more students to donate. At the University of Minnesota Red Cross Blood Drive, Madelyn had fun with “Buddy the Blood Drop” and inspired classmates to donate more than 100 units of lifesaving blood. And this December, right in the middle of finals week, she’s hosting her own blood drive on campus. It’s already almost full.
Madelyn is more than a survivor – she’s an artist, a leader and a voice in the community. Between rehearsals and classes, she still makes time to volunteer and share her story. What drives her is connection, that deep sense of community that helped her heal and keeps her giving back. “For me, that’s a big driving factor in any work I do,” she says. “So many people have been there for me, and community is important, creating community in any way we can is important.”
Between classes and campus life, Madelyn still finds time to advocate for blood donation, encouraging others to give the gift that once helped save her life. (Photo: Submitted)
She knows firsthand that every donation matters. “There are probably patients who didn’t get it in time,” she says. “Giving blood is a method of creating community, and I don’t know that it’s always seen as that, but I think it’s a really important way of doing something that helps people.”
That understanding drives her advocacy for blood donation among her peers. She sees it not as an act of charity, but one of connection, something that takes less than an hour and can change a life.
Every day, patients across the U.S. rely on blood and platelet donors to survive – yet only about 3 percent of eligible people donate blood each year. Madelyn is determined to change that. By sharing her story, she hopes to close that gap – one student, one act of generosity at a time.
“Creating community matters,” she says. “And this is a simple way to do it.”
Roll up a sleeve to donate and help change a life, like Madelyn’s.
Madelyn shared her inspiring story on WCCO-TV Sunday Morning – view here.
Schedule an appointment to donate blood or platelets using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region 