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The Highwire with Del Bigtree

THE BATTLE OVER BLOOD

The Highwire with Del Bigtree

The Highwire with Del Bigtree

News, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Liz James, Founder & President of Blessed by His Blood, and Tanya Lair—a physician assistant and mother of two daughters who require lifelong transfusions—share the fight to protect patients’ right to direct to donor blood after a decade-long donor arrangement was suddenly revoked. They unpack how a system meant to save lives can prioritize bureaucracy and profit over individualized care, and why this battle is spreading to legislatures across the country.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Several years ago, in the middle of, I actually think it was like April of 2021, I had a sort of surprising health scare.

0:08.0

I was running all over, talking about COVID, talking about these issues.

0:12.0

Then I thought I caught COVID. I was really weak. I was having trouble walking across the room.

0:17.0

Luckily, some friends of mine, you know, sort of forced me to go to a heart doctor.

0:23.4

I didn't end up having a heart issue, but that heart doctor, through blood tests, discovered

0:27.6

that my hemoglobin was down to 4.8.

0:31.5

They said to me, I mean, got an emergency call in the morning.

0:33.7

It was a Thursday morning.

0:34.9

I was supposed to be heading the show in about an hour.

0:38.0

I was not feeling very good, but I'm a guy that's like, the show must go on. I'm going to be

0:42.4

there. And this doctor said, you aren't going to any show. You need to get to an ER right away.

0:47.1

You need emergency blood transfusions. Your hemoglobin should be somewhere between 13 and 17.

0:53.9

You're at 4.8 mandatory emergency

0:56.8

infusion start if you're below, I think of a seven at the time. So I was at 4.8. It was a serious

1:04.7

emergency. And I had an issue. I didn't want blood from people that have been, you know, vaccinated with the

1:12.9

COVID vaccine. I don't want that spike protein in my body, that man-made, manipulated product

1:19.1

that was never properly tested. Don't want it. Don't need it. Even though I was like, you know,

1:24.2

really on the verge of death, luckily a friend of mine called the blood bank here in Austin, and there was only, I think

1:32.9

it was seven total units.

1:35.7

I'm B negative, which I guess is pretty rare.

1:38.6

So in all of Austin, only about seven units.

1:41.3

And they don't track whether or not there was a COVID vaccine.

...

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