'Fill the Wells' blood drive aims to honor South Oldham graduate Jordan Wells
Nearly 10o nurses, doctors and volunteers rolled up their sleeves on Friday to give blood in honor of Jordan Wells.
The 23-year-old was randomly shot and killed while walking down Eastern Parkway near Dairy Kastle last March.
While he ultimately passed away, the blood transfusions he was given while being cared for at UofL Health kept him alive for much longer than expected. He was even able to regain consciousness before he died.
"We were able to exchange 'I love you's' and just tell him how proud we were of him. His brother was able to see him, and it's just because of all the blood donors," said Kristie Hillard, Jordan's mom.
Now, Hillard hopes to return the favor by hosting an annual blood drive, in partnership with UofL Health and the Red Cross, called "Fill the Wells."
"When Jordan was in the hospital for three weeks, he received over 119 blood products," said Hillard. "At that time, we knew we wanted to give back and let somebody else have a chance and give hope to someone else."
Hillard hopes to host the Fill the Wells blood drive annually.