Blood drive heals mother’s heart
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Stephanie Stivenson has a snack as she waits to regain her strength after donating blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Jen Butler takes time from her morning to donate blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Angeline, left, and Jennifer O’Donnell prepare donors for blood donations during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Jennifer O’Donnell prepares Emily Pflugh to withdraw blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Leslie Rys prepares Hunter Faltot to withdraw blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Emily Ford, left, and Courtney Fry prepare materials to be used for blood withdrawals during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Doug Meeder, Corey Comperatore’s brother-in-law, gives blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Hunter Falltot keeps his arm raised after giving blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Tim Shaffer takes a photo of Dawn Comperatore Schafer before he gives blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Dawn Comperatore Schafer holds Tim Shaffer hand as he gives blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Dawn Comperatore Schafer holds Tim Shaffer hand as he gives blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Dawn Comperatore Schafer holds Tim Shaffer hand as he gives blood during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Desirae Morris prepares Tim Shaffer for blood withdrawal during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Five tubes of blood are taken from each donor during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Adrienne Sherman, right, hugs Dawn Comperatore Schafer during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Corey Comperatore’s memory was honored during a blood drive in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
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Corey Comperatore’s memory was honored during a blood drive in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
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Dawn Comperatore Schafer dances to entertain Tim Shaffer to keep his mind away from having a needle put in him for the donation during a blood drive to honor the memory of fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore in Freeport on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
FREEPORT, Armstrong County — A blood drive held Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, in memory of Corey Comperatore helped heal his mother’s broken heart.
Members of his family began planning the drive about a month after Comperatore was killed in the July 13 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at a preelection campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show.
Comperatore’s mother Karen Schaefer Bird, a retired nurse, said she wanted to honor his memory in a way that involved saving lives like he did for many years as a firefighter in the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company.
“I could not save my son the day he was murdered,” Bird said Saturday during the blood drive at Laube Hall in Freeport Community Park. “I needed it to heal me.”
She said she understands hospitals’ need for blood from her career as a nurse, and is grateful to everyone who donates. She hopes the blood drive becomes an annual event. The donated blood will be used in hospitals in the area, she said.
“I think Corey would be proud. I’m very proud of the turnout. I need it for healing. Corey was my little boy. He was my hero the second the doctor laid him on my chest,” Bird said.
She said she misses time spent sitting and talking with her son, but feels his presence.
“He walks with us everyday. There’s a hole in my heart and soul that will never be filled,” Bird said.
She and her daughter Kelly Meeder, Corey’s sister, said they believe the need for blood supersedes beliefs that divide people.
“I don’t want my brother’s memory to be political. He didn’t ask about political parties when he entered a burning house or car,” Meeder said. “He had a servant’s heart. We don’t want his memory to be political. This is about saving one another.”
Corey helped save people’s lives, but he needed blood the day he was shot, she said.
“The hospitals are crying for blood. We have to get blood from Ohio and West Virginia. My brother has a life saving legacy in the fire company and the military. Every donation saves three lives,” Meeder said. “We don’t have enough blood in Pittsburgh.”
She said Corey would not describe himself as a hero even though he joined the fire department when he was 16, but she hopes his memory and the blood drive unites the community.
“We need to get back to caring and loving each other,” Meeder said.
Meeder keeps a picture of her brother in her office in Laube Hall, where she works as the events manager. The hall also is the place where Corey’s viewing was held.
“Some days I can open that door, some days I can’t,” Meeder said.
She said the blood drive was her mother’s idea, and it is something she needed.
“This is good for my mom. It’s healing her heart. You child is not supposed to die before you,” Meeder said.
The family said they do not need gifts of money, but they would like people to share a more valuable gift.
“A gift of blood is a gift of love. It can save a life and prevent mourning. This isn’t just a donation. This is a gift,” Meeder said.
Vitalant, which conducted the blood drive, is the primary blood supplier to 38 hospitals in Western Pennsylvania and 900 across the country, said spokesman Maya Santana.
Hospitals rely on other hospitals when blood during emergency shortages, she said.
“It’s the blood that’s already on the hospital shelves that saves lives,” Santana said.
