Blood Drive Honors LI Mother: ‘She Lived Every Day To The Fullest’

EAST MORICHES, NY — It’s a story of love, pure and simple. A blood drive that Arlexa Karoutsos has organized for Thursday in Center Moriches in memory of her mother Diane Mazarakis, who died in January, is not just about the heartbreaking loss she endured. Instead, it’s about living as her mother would have, a life full of laughter, of joy, of beach days and travel — and of donating blood, so that others can continue to make treasured memories.

Mazarakis herself organized a blood drive every year in honor of her own mother Arlette and now, Karoutsos is doing the same thing, to honor the woman who taught her how to live fully and embrace every moment.

The New York Blood Center, or NYBC, will be hosting the blood drive on Thursday, August 17 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the East Moriches Fire Department, located at 9 Pine Street.

Mazarakis organized blood drives in honor of her mother from 2018 to 2020, until the onset of the pandemic.

Mazarakis was ultimately diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and fought a battle that spanned two years and required numerous blood transfusions. She became a recipient of the blood donations she had tirelessly advocated for throughout the years prior, NYBC said.

Diane passed away on January 6. She was just 65 years old.

Karoutsos, NYBC said, “recognized the importance of continuing her mother’s legacy and the profound impact that blood donors had in extending her mother’s life, allowing for her to have two additional years with her family. Diane’s daughter asks that the community honor her mother’s memory by donating blood and saving a life.”

Blood donors can give every 56 days, and platelet donors can give twice per month, NYBC said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently lifted eligibility restrictions for individuals who lived in Europe during certain periods of time, NYBC added.

To view current eligibility guidelines, click here or call 800-688-0900.

NYBC added that it only takes one hour to donate, and a single donation can save multiple lives. Roughly 1 in 7 hospital admissions require a blood transfusion. Those in need include cancer patients, accident, burn, or trauma victims, newborn babies and their mothers, transplant recipients, surgery patients, chronically transfused patients suffering from sickle cell disease or thalassemia, and many more, NYBC said.

Speaking with Patch, Karoutsos described the mother she loved beyond measure: “My mom was the most positive, upbeat, fun-spirited person I know. She spent her summers on the beaches in New York and winters on the beaches of Florida,” she said.

Her mother, she said, organized blood drives in honor of her mother to continue her legacy and continue helping people.

And then came unthinkable news: “My mom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in January, 2021 after yearly blood work before going to Florida for the winter. She had the worst kind of leukemia —with the worst genetic mutations.”

Despite the grim diagnosis, her mother never lost her sparkle. “Throughout treatment, my mom maintained such a positive outlook,” Karoutsos said. “We always had so many laughs on the way to appointments.”

Her mother received the majority of her treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

After intensive chemo, her mother received a bone marrow transplant, Karoutsos said; her aunt was a 100 percent match and donated stem cells to her mother.

“A few months later, the leukemia was back,” she said.

Her mother fought tirelessly, with additional treatments in Manhattan, a clinical trial at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and even a visit to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Karoutsos said.

“My mom was determined this leukemia would not win,” she said. And until the day she died, she never stopped living.

“We continued to travel on vacations, even against the doctors’ wishes. She lived every day to the fullest. She hoped to change the path for the patients behind her. We would always push the boundaries during treatment — if it was sneaking to Puerto Rico for the weekend or to a Jimmy Buffett concert. . . We didn’t let the leukemia win.”

Throughout the months that her mother fought the leukemia, blood donations were critical, Karoutsos said.

“Due to the leukemia taking over, my mom had very, very low white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells. Toward the end of treatment, she was receiving blood twice a week. Without the generous donations, my mom wouldn’t have had an extra two years of living.”

Still, the pain of losing her mother is palpable.

“The hardest part of her leukemia journey was watching her be a patient. I wished and prayed more than anything to make her better, so we could continue living,” Karoutsos said.

The heartache of memories never made echoes. “I found out in early September that my husband and I were expecting our first child. My mom passed away when I was 4 months pregnant,” Karoutsos said. “We are so grateful that she was there for our gender reveal, and to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Our baby girl is named Charlette Diana. Named after my grandmother Arlette and mom Diane.”

Despite the sadness, Karoutsos finds a way to face the future with positivity and grace, led by her mother’s example.

“We find the strength to go forward every day because that’s exactly what my mom would want. She would want me to put on a smile and be the best version of myself every day,” she said.

She added: “If you ask anyone, they will tell you how full of life my mom was. She was always on the go with somewhere fun to be. If it was live music at the beach or a sailing trip in the Bahamas. She always had something going on.”

Karoutsos organized the blood drive for this week; August 16 was her mother’s birthday.

“I decided to organize the drive because I know just how important blood donations are. There were times that my mom had low red blood cells but, because the blood banks were low, they couldn’t provide blood until her counts dropped more.”

The blood drive will be held on August 17, not 16th, for a very special reason, Karoutsos said.

“Her only wish each year on her birthday was to spend the entire day in her bathing suit, so that’s just what we did. A big beach day with friends and family.”

But she urged people to remember her mother and consider donating blood Thursday: “It’s so important that if you can donate blood, you are. Without donations, we wouldn’t have had an additional two years of memories and living with my mom.”

For additional information on the blood drive, click here.

To make an appointment at this blood drive, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit this link. If you can’t donate blood, you can still support NYBC’s mission by texting ‘NYBC’ to ‘20222’ to give $25.

“Without generous donors, my mom wouldn’t have had the additional two years of vacations, beach days and happy hours that she did,” Karoutsos said. “In typical Diane fashion, if you donate, you will receive a voucher for a free beer at the Jamesport Farm Brewery. Looking forward to seeing you all!”