Everyone on His Guest List Was the Life of the Party

It takes 20 people to keep Antwain Eaton alive. Thursday night, he threw them a party.

The 21-year-old Irvine man suffers from sickle cell anemia, a disease of the red blood cells. Once a month, he must go to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) to receive a transfusion. The place has been like home to him for 14 years. He’s been a patient there for many lengthy stays in that time.

Eaton’s 20 volunteer donors head to CHOC four times a year to give their blood for him. Martha Thomason of Laguna Hills has given so much blood to the American Red Cross that she recently got her “Two Gallon” pin. Now she also gives for Eaton.

“It means so much more when you know the name of the person you’re helping,” she said.

However, she’d never met him until Thursday night’s party. Eaton explained how it came about: He recently ran into one of his donors by coincidence at the hospital. He told the staff he wished he could meet all of them. So the staff helped him arrange the party.

Eaton and his parents, Ruth and Kevin, wanted to thank the donors, for certain. But the young man also wanted to get to know who they were.

“These people are my life,” he said. “I want to know their moods, their attitudes.” He added with a grin: “I need to know who I’m acting like.”

Eaton, who attends Irvine Valley College, wants to become a chef. He’s already pretty good in the kitchen, serving dishes for his parents and younger brother. So he made some of the desserts himself.

His plan was to make them all. But for Eaton, life doesn’t always go as planned. He went in for his regular transfusion on Friday and had a setback which put him in a hospital bed for the weekend.

But he was better by the time of the party, and in high spirits. With the busy holiday season here, he wasn’t sure how many donors could accept his invitation. To his delight, half of them were able to make it.

“Are they all women?” he asked Maggie Edwards, who heads CHOC’s donor recruitment. No, there’s one man among the 20, she answered.

That led to some good-natured kidding by Eaton, and the staff joined in on the fun. It was easy to see he was a huge favorite at CHOC.

“I know this hospital better than anyone,” he told me. “I can take you anywhere here.”

Eaton first became a patient at CHOC just before he was 3, when he was diagnosed with sickle cell. When he was 7, the disease became central to his life. That was the year he had a stroke, and almost lost his eyesight.

He remained in a CHOC bed for nearly a year. He’s the first to admit he was a bit of a terror. He once hid in a closet for so long--to avoid his next shot--the staff called the fire department to find him.

Since his stroke, Eaton has needed monthly blood transfusions to replace his defective red blood cells. For years he was like other patients, drawing blood from the hospital’s standard supply. But he had so many complications, doctors decided about a year ago he needed his own separate system of regular donors--to reduce the risk of exposure to infections, and to gain a consistency his body needed. Since the Eaton 20 was established, his health has generally improved. The hope is he can lead a productive and long life.

At the party, I asked one of the donors, Debbie Carlson of Garden Grove, why she had volunteered to take time every few months to give Eaton her blood.

“Why not?” she answered smiling. “That ought to be the question.”

Colleen Woodbury, coordinator of blood and donor services, said Eaton will need a group of 20 or so donors for the rest of his life to keep him from suffering another stroke. To keep him alive.

Thomason and Carlson told me they planned to be among those donors as long as they’re living and the hospital will accept their blood. They happened to be the two donors at the party during the time I was able to attend. But his other donors have made the same pledge.

“This is a long-term commitment,” Carlson said. “I have a 4-year-old daughter at home. I’d like to think someone would step forward if she ever needed any help.”

Busy Little Elves: Who watches out for Santa Claus when he gets sick? At CHOC, it’s the boys and girls he’s been coming to see. Michael Colwell of Garden Grove has been playing Christmas Santa for CHOC for some 20 years. One staff member told me Colwell has been its biggest individual toy donor.

Colwell recently suffered a stroke, which prevents him from returning to Santa duties this year. So the youngsters at CHOC are sending him cards and artwork.

I asked Marguerite Beal, who is organizing the effort, if any of the youngsters had been there long enough to remember Colwell from last year. A few have, but for most, she said, “Santa is Santa, whoever he is. This is their chance to give back.”

Guilty of Winning: One of last week’s columns concerned the ongoing mock trial competition for 48 Orange County high schools. When we last left off, Esperanza High of Anaheim had advanced to take on Rosary High of Fullerton, and Cypress High was ready to compete with El Dorado High of Placentia.

Tuesday night’s semi-final winners were Cypress and Esperanza.

And grand champion after a very close competition Thursday night? Drum roll, please . . . Esperanza.

The team’s coach, Carol Hager, who has coached all three of her own children in mock trial competition, was in tears of joy when it ended.

“She was giddy,” said Jon Hager, the oldest of her children. “She and the students worked very, very hard to get this.”

Esperanza and Cypress will be honored at an awards luncheon Feb. 6 at the Red Lion Hotel/Orange County Airport in Costa Mesa.

Wrap-Up: Antwain Eaton spent a lot of time talking about “Dr. B.” That would be Geni Bennetts, his hematologist/oncologist for 14 years, who recently retired.

“Dr. B put me in check,” Eaton said. “You don’t mess with Dr. B.”

I reached Bennetts at home in Napa, and she was delighted to hear about the party. There were lots of rough times and lots of heart-to-heart talks between them, she said, adding:

“He’s been through so much. A lot of youngsters in his situation get too depressed to ever really bounce back. But Antwain has gone back to school, he’s got a future. I’m very proud of Antwain.”

I’m betting Antwain Eaton is very proud of her too.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com