The day before the biggest exam of my life, I received a phone call that still gives me nightmares, brings back painful memories, and one that I think of and re live almost every single day. Getting a phone call that your sibling has been in a severe car accident is one you never want to hear. I was left alone in Toronto to write my paralegal licensing exam because that is what Nick would have wanted, not knowing how critical he was..

I will never forget walking into my brother's hospital room and watching blood transfusion after blood transfusion. Praying that this was not the end, even though I knew for certain it was. In 26 days I had never seen so many blood transfusions, blood bags or blood in general in my life. I took the blood bags for granted in the moment, as I only truly saw them as a substance keeping my brother alive. It wasn't until almost a year and a half later that I truly understood and valued these blood bags, and that moment was when I donated for the first time. I had been anemic for years and never had blood donation on my mind. When I sat in the donation chair I knew I was doing something good, and someone somewhere would receive my blood who at the current moment may not even know they will need it. I remember the Nurse in the screening booth asking me why I decided to donate, and trying so hard not to cry I told her my brothers story. I thanked her sincerely for what she does as I know blood donation can seem so impersonal. The donors along with the Nurses and Doctors kept my brother alive. Their donations kept my brother alive for almost 26 days after being a passenger in a horrific single vehicle accident and they don't even realize it or know. Blood donation can seem very distant but your blood bag is helping someone in an Immense amount of ways, even if you don't get to see it or get recognition from it. Every time I hear a siren I know a person, their family, and their friends are starting a journey that will end in triumph or tragedy and these blood bags have an impact no matter what way you look at it.

2 years have come and gone and I am a completely different person than I was two years ago. I constantly wonder what my life would be like had the accident not happened. The accident took my brother, my passion for paralegal and a lot of my early 20's away from me. However it made me gain a perspective that I would not have gained had the accident never happened. I value life, my friends and my family even more than I did before. Had the accident never happened I would have never gone to university with law school aspirations. The accident gave me a drive to be better, do better, and live my life to the fullest. Most of all I learned that the key to all of this is to be better and not bitter. I miss my brother everyday, and as cliche as it sounds not a day has gone by in 2 years where I haven't thought of him. The morning of the accident, my brother was talking to a friend about how incredibly proud he was that I was following my dreams. That will forever stick with me, and I hope we are making you proud today.

I hope my families stories can get at-least one person to donate, or one person to start donating regularly, thank you from the bottom of my heart<3

- Kaitlyn Dyer