Blood Drive honors injured NYS soldier

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — New York State Troopers held a blood drive for Sgt. Sam Mattina. Last month, Mattina suffered serious injuries after he was hit by a car while riding a patrol motorcycle.

“He received numerous blood transfusions. He also had numerous surgeries,” said Heather Harper of Connect Life.

Harper tells 7 News Mattina received multiple blood donations during her long stay in the hospital following the Porter accident. This situation inspired his family, a state trooper, to donate money for the blood that saved their co-worker’s life.

“We’re doing a blood drive for Sam Mattina,” Sgt. – said Józef Krywalski. “Anything that can give something back. (The community) has been great to Sam, so we want to help her.”

Connect Life hosted the blood drive at the State Police Trooper Station in Lockport, and donors came from all over the world, from Mattina’s co-workers to community members.

In total, over 60 people donated blood. Moreover, Sgt. Mattina himself appeared.

Mattina uses a wheelchair and has a shoe on his right foot, but his mere presence at the station fills us with optimism.

“It’s great to have him around. He has a smile on his face every day even though he’s going through all this. You see him and he lights up and he makes you light up,” Krywalski said. “To experience something like that and be able to pick yourself up at a time when he was great.

Anyone willing to help Sgt. Mattina’s case and self-donation of blood can be done at: connectlife.org.