ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702030076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Renee Wilson is looking for the man who saved her life a few days after she was born.
Doctors diagnosed Wilson with a blood disorder that required her to have a complete transfusion. Her condition worsened quickly, and when she was 3 days old, a plea was put out for compatible blood, said her mother, Ann Wilson.
It was in the middle of the night in June 1966, and there were only three people on the list of potential donors.
Despite the late hour, a Newport News man who shared her rare blood type answered the call. He arrived at Riverside Regional Medical Center and replaced all of her blood with his.
The man quietly left the hospital at 3 a.m. The Wilsons never talked to him.
Now, Renee Wilson is 30 and on a mission to find the donor who saved her life. She has spent the last five years trying to track him down. Neither the hospital nor her pediatrician has records of the transfusion.
``It was like a big loophole,'' she said. ``Everyone sent me to everyone else.''
Wilson wants nothing more than to thank him.
``If he had said no, I would have been dead,'' said Wilson, who now lives in Richmond. ``He easily could have said no. He didn't. He jumped up. No one told him who it was for. I just want to give him a hug and say thank you for not saying no, thank you for getting up.''
In hopes of locating him, Wilson wrote to NBC's ``Unsolved Mysteries'' program. The segment called ``Blood Ties'' was filmed in April and aired Friday night. The show has a 60 percent success rate in solving cases such as Wilson's, said Tim Rogan, coordinating producer for the show.
The Wilsons are hoping for answers quickly.
``For her sake, I hope she is able to find the person and thank him for it. I would like for her to be able to put this to rest,'' said Ann Wilson, who has since moved to York County with her husband. ``She really has a sense that the person gave her life.''
Ann Wilson told her daughter about the transfusion when she was a teen-ager.
``I didn't believe her, I thought she was pulling my leg,'' Renee Wilson said.
The donor would probably be in his 60s now, said Ann Wilson, who has since moved to York County with her husband.
When he came to the hospital, he was not told who he was helping. But somehow, he found out the name and address of the family.
Six weeks after the Wilsons brought Renee home, there was a knock on the door. It was the man who had given his blood. Renee was sleeping, and Ann Wilson was so startled that he would show up that she didn't let him in.
``It was just the fact that I was caught off guard,'' she said. ``I couldn't figure out how he knew who we were.''
After the visit, Ann Wilson sent the donor a letter to thank him for saving her baby. However, she has forgotten his name and address.
``I think there's a good chance he still lives here,'' she said. ``He seemed like a very nice man.''
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB