Blood drive honors injured Pueblo police officer

The Pueblo Police Department called on the people of the Steel City and come out and donate a bit of time and blood Monday morning to honor an injured officer.

Officer Jonathan Bell was shot multiple times in both of his legs outside the Don Quixote apartments on Pueblo’s south side last month.

The drive was held outside of the Pueblo Police Department, where two large buses or donation centers were parked. Each donor gave up 500 milliliters of their own blood in Bell’s name.

For the dozens of people and officers who came out to donate their blood Monday, the reasoning was clear.

“It’s our responsibility to give back to the community and the people that protect us,” said Paul Sandoval.

“Have a lot of friends who are police officers and law enforcement, so figured I’d help out,” said Chris Hardy.

According to Vitalant, the organizer of the blood drive, approximately 60 units of blood were withdrawn from donors from 10 a.m. until the drive finished a little after 2 p.m. Organizers say that can help more than 180 people in need.

“Any support we can show Officer Bell is important,” said Sgt. Shelly Taylor of the Pueblo Police Department as she was donating herself. “Had it not been for donors prior to Officer Bell’s incident, he may not be with us. It is incredibly important for people to donate.”

Vitalant says drives like this one sometimes takes months to organize. Monday’s event only took two weeks.