Super Hero Ollie's Sidekicks Continue Saving Lives
Super Ollie's Sidekicks Memorial Blood Drive
This year's drive will happen June 3 from 12:00pm - 6:00pm at Harrison Elementary School in the gym. 600 E Broadway St, Harrison, OH 45030
Super Hero Ollie’s Sidekicks Continue Saving Lives in Memory of the Little Boy who Made a Big Impact in a Short Time. Read more about how Ollie's family and friends continue to make a difference for local patients.
From Birth, Something wasn’t Right
Oliver "Ollie" Quinn Rodriguez was born in southern Missouri on the Army Base Fort Leonard Wood in February 2016. His parents, Krystle and Joseph Rodriguez knew something wasn’t right within his first week of life.
“He wasn’t gaining weight despite eating around the clock and just didn’t seem comfortable,” says Krystle, “We made the difficult decision as a family to split up for the sake of better medical care in search of answers for our son’s health.”
Krystle moved to Florida with her three kids when Ollie was just three months old. Her husband stayed in Missouri on military orders. Krystle is originally from Florida and was hoping to visit with doctors to get Ollie the medical care he needed. Unfortunately, this didn’t help, and Ollie’s health continued to decline. Jospeh was able to get a Humanitarian transfer through the Marine Corps to be closer to his family. They were still living apart but much closer between Tampa and Miami.
Getting Help from another Family and Hoxworth Recipient
With very few answers, lots of questions and no diagnosis for Ollie, another Hoxworth Blood Center recipient reached out to Krystle. Super Cohen’s mom, Carrie Bramlee contacted Krystle on Facebook. Carrie offered to connect Krystle to Cohen’s doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center because the two kids had similar symptoms.
In the meantime, the Rodriguez family was being transferred to California for Joseph’s military career. In June of 2019, Ollie was hospitalized and this time he was taken to CCHMC by medical plane. Once Krystle met Cohen’s doctor they enrolled Ollie into a clinical research study.
“Once in California it became clear that the medical care our son needed to give him the best chance at life was here at CCHMC,” remembers Krystle, “Upon my husband’s military retirement in 2021 we chose to relocate permanently to the Tri-State area.”
In 2022 Ollie had another heath episode that required him to have continuous transfusions. Ollie never received a diagnosis for his disease, but it is a macrophage driven disease that affects every system in the body.
I truly believe had we not been here at CCHMC we would have lost Ollie then. His disease, although similar to four other little boys being treated at CCHMC and enrolled in the research study, was very complex and somewhat of a mystery. His body was doing things the doctors couldn’t explain.
Krystle Rodriguez Ollie's Mom
Super Hero Ollie’s Sidekicks Spring into Action to Give Back
At this time, seeing the difference the blood products made for her son, Krystle contacted Hoxworth and worked together to host a blood drive. Ollie didn’t quite understand why he couldn’t donate blood, but he was thrilled to meet every donor that came to his school, Harrison Elementary for the blood drive in his honor.
Sadly, after just two blood drives Ollie passed away on May 2, 2024.
Ollie’s family plans to continue hosting the blood drive at Harrison Elementary School to remember the impact their son had on so many people. Super Ollie’s Sidekicks blood drive is happening on June 3, from 12:00pm – 6:00pm. You can schedule your appointment now.
Super Hero Ollie’s Legacy Continues
As you can see in these pictures, Ollie was a happy boy, always smiling and laughing despite his illness. That’s how his mom says she will remember her sweet boy.
“Ollie received countless blood products throughout his short eight years of life,” Krystle continues, “It is our family’s honor to continue spreading awareness for the need of volunteer donors as well as hosting an annual drive to help replenish some of the precious lifesaving supply for others in need.”
You can be a Hoxworth Hero too!
If you would like to host a blood drive, you can contact Hoxworth at this link. To schedule an appointment at one of the seven Neighborhood Donor Centers or mobile drives, click here.