COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) – The Red Cross is now experiencing what representatives are calling a “blood crisis” – which is a dangerously low supply of blood for patients in need. A dilemma that’s forcing doctors to choose who receives life-saving blood transfusions – and who has to wait.

Here in the Midlands, parents like Vesha Jamison are feeling the effects front and center.

“It’s unexplainable watching your child sit in agonizing pain, knowing that there’s nothing you can do about it,” Jamison told WACH FOX News Tuesday.

Jamison’s 11-year-old son Dreylan was born with sickle cell disease – a condition that means frequent blood transfusions, and weeks on end in the emergency room.

“When you get those healthy blood cells in there, get them to moving, and replenishing the hemoglobin, it essentially makes a world of difference for patients with sickle cell disease,” Jamison added.

Unfortunately, a shortage in the blood supply and donors through the Red Cross now threaten Jamison’s family and thousands of others across the Palmetto State.

“It’s a blood crisis is what we’re calling it,” said regional communications director for the Red Cross Palmetto SC Region Mandy McWherter. “We’re seeing a ten percent drop in blood donors, and that has been throughout the pandemic for the past two years.”

McWherter says the pandemic, severe weather events, and hesitancy to donate have forced Red Cross staff to cancel more than sixty percent of their scheduled blood drives. It is a need they’re pleading for the community to fill.

“Right now, it’s going to take all of us to get us out of this dire situation with the blood crisis,” McWherter added.

Red Cross representatives are now going to greater lengths to get people to donate blood, even partnering with the NFL on incentives. Anyone who donates blood this month will be entered for a chance to win a trip to the SuperBowl in L.A., a home theater package and $500 gift card.

The goal is to provide the 280-liters of blood needed a day to give Dreylan and other critical patients a fair shot at a normal life.

“Every moment that you’re waiting is just a moment of anxiety, a moment of fear, a moment of worry,” Jamison went on to say. “This is really life or death when you think about it."

Community members are encouraged to not only give blood, but volunteer and organize blood drives to drive out the critical need, even being seen at our local hospitals.

“This is having real impacts on patient care. Right now, in South Carolina we’re only able to fulfill about seventy-five percent at times of the hospital’s blood orders,” McWherter also said.

Red Cross provides as much as forty percent of the nation's blood supply. Anyone interested in helping out can visit the Red Cross website for more information.