Glendale High students meet man saved in part by their blood donations

Last April, Brandon Levine was clinging to life when he arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, his future in question after a near-fatal accident on his new motorcycle near Los Angeles International Airport.
“I only had it a week,” Levine said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Just days before the accident, many Glendale High students had donated their blood to the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, not knowing their blood would be used to save Levine’s life.

“He was given tons of blood units, went through reconstructive surgery and survived,” said Mary Hazlett, a Glendale High teacher and UCLA alum who has been overseeing blood drives on the high school campus for years.
Levine said his aorta had been damaged as had a vessel that runs through the stomach and feeds blood to the heart, one of the main reasons so much blood was needed.

“They said there was only a 5% success rate with that type of procedure,” Levine said.

Since 2004, UCLA has received more than 2,500 units of blood from Glendale High students.

“When they were pulling the info about [Levine’s] donors, [Glendale High School] kept coming up as the location,” Hazlett added.

Last Friday, more than a dozen Glendale High students who donated blood last year went to a luncheon at UCLA to meet Levine, whose mom hugged each and every student.

“The way that his mom hugged us — she hugged us so tight,” recalled Tiledia Sinaei, a Glendale High student. “I think this experience for me really just affirmed my beliefs about donating blood. I think this just made me realize how much of a difference one person can make…This guy was going through so much and we were able to help him and we didn’t even know.”

The students also heard Levine’s story of recovery from the medical staff who treated him.

Hazlett said his anesthesiologist recalled looking at him soon after the accident occurred, and Levine saying, “Save me.”

After hearing those stories, the Glendale High students were in awe of their link to Levine and his survival. Student Antreas Hindoyan grew emotional at the luncheon while a few of his classmates’ eyes grew teary.

“It was heartfelt,” Hindoyan said. “I almost cried. I was like, ‘Keep it together.’ I was on the verge [of tears].”

Fellow Glendale High student Jessica Lopez Cano has given blood multiple times at Glendale High during campus blood drives.

She’s been told that every donation could potentially save three lives, but she didn’t necessarily believe in any donation’s true potential until now.

“You actually always think, that’s not going to happen,” she said. “When I found out that I actually saved a life… I found the experience so unbelievable.”

Levine said that before meeting the donors, he didn’t know anything about them.

“When I showed up, I was floored that the majority of them were in high school,” he said. “The whole thing was surreal.”

He said that students usually get movie tickets when they donate blood.

“Then, when you put a face on where your blood is actually going, it kinda shocked them,” Levine said. “I was just as shocked, as well.”

Mark Kellam contributed to the reporting of this story.