Sterling Strong: Gary family carries on daughter's legacy through blood donations

GARY, Ind. (WLS) -- Blood donations, impact families in ways some may never understand.

"We witnessed firsthand why giving blood is so important. We watched it save our daughter's life like in front of our eyes," said Maddie Raspe.

We introduced you to the Raspe family last year, ahead of the 2022 Great Chicago Blood Drive: Kingsley, Maddie and their daughter Sterling.

Sterling Strong: Gary couple encourage blood donations after daughter's death

Sterling battled a rare heart disease called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. She needed multiple surgeries and dozens of blood transfusions.

Ultimately, she passed away at eight months old. But, her memory lives on in more ways than one.

"Even when she passed away we still talk about her daily we have a section dedicated to her we have a tree we planted with her ashes," said Kingsley Raspe.

The Raspe family hosts periodic blood drives in Sterling's honor, because blood donations gave them more time with their baby girl. They collect so many units of blood, the American Red Cross named them premiere partners.

"We were just doing it from the goodness of our hearts we didn't really we didn't really know that we would have such a meaningful impact," said Kingsley Raspe.

And now there's a new addition to the family initiative: Sterling's little brother Wren.

"It was like perfect timing once he finally did arrive because at first it was not what we were imagining, us having a baby that soon after," said Maddie Raspe. "He truly has healed us in ways that like, I never thought."

And though Wren's big sister is not physically with him, Sterling's memory lives on, encouraging more people to donate blood and Wren's parents vow to teach him just how strong she was.

"He had a big sister that was only here for a short period of time but on that short period left a legacy that we can only hope that we ourselves will hope to fill," said Kingsley Raspe.

The Raspe family has a campaign called "Sterling Strong" encouraging everyone to give blood.

If Kingsley and Maddie have inspired you to donate, you can sign up for the Great Chicago Blood Drive here.