Charles Richard Drew was born June, 3rd in 1904 to Richard Y. Drew and Nora Burrell, in Washington D.C. He had one sibling, Elsie, who was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and soon after died of Pandemic influenza. This tragic loss took place in 1920 and might have been the catalyst that influenced Drew to choose his career. He graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts and graduate work at McGill University He taught in medical schools and hospitals. He worked at Freedman’s Hospital, Howard University and Montreal’s Morgan State University, Howard University and Montreal General.
He also taught at these schools. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. He became the first black surgeon to serve on the American Board of Surgery as a medical examiner. Drew was a gifted practicing surgeon, medical researcher and teacher with a particular interest in the transferring and collection of blood. He had a few predecessors to research before improving upon devices or solutions.
Many scientists and physicians had written about the shelf life of plasma and in 1939, John Elliott and his colleagues reported that they had experimented and successfully used stored plasma in over 190 transfusions. The first use of “blood banks” was during World War I by Dr. Oswald H. Robertson of the United States Army. He used a citrate-glucose solution, and then stored the blood in a sterile container.
Then in the 1930’s the Russians had started their own Blood bank collection programs.In 1937 Bernard Fantus actually used this knowledge of the Russians program to establish the first blood bank program in Chicago’s cook county hospital.
Drew was given his big break during the early part of World War II in 1940; He was recruited by John Scudder to help develop improved storage techniques regarding blood banks. Drew’s job was to collect and transport large quantities of blood to be used overseas by the British. This project was known as the “Blood for Britain” project. Drew was responsible for testing the blood before shipment. This program was successful as within a five month period, near 15,000 people donated blood and over 5,000 blood vials were collected. Drew was fired from his job after protesting and becoming an activist against racial segregation in donating blood. He believed there was no necessary need to distinguish one person’s blood over another’s due to skin colour.
On April 1, 1950, Drew and three other physicians were on their way to the Tuskegee clinic. Drew was and lost control of the vehicle. It careened off the road and flipped several times. The three physicians survived with minor injuries; however Drew sustained serious injuries and was in shock when he was delivered to the emergency room. Contrary to what is said about him ironically being denied a blood transfusion, Drew was given proper care according to witnesses, including the surviving physicians. The physicians stated that he had a superior vena caval syndrome which meant the blood was blocked from traveling back toward the heart from his brain. Drew was pronounced dead a half an hour after he received care on April 1, 1950.
In commemoration of Charles Drew, a 35 cents stamp of his likeness was issued in 1981. A bridge was named after him in Washington D.C., the Charles R. Drew Bridge and a Park in his honor, Parc Charles-Drew in Le Sud-Quest; Montreal Quebec, Canada was constructed.
