Loved ones planning blood drive in honor of two Naperville men who died in Astroworld stampede
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The FBI continues to investigate what led to a stampede that killed two Naperville men at the Astroworld Festival featuring rapper Travis Scott last November.
Answers about their deaths may be hazy, but in their fog of grief, the victims' families found some light.
Morning Insider Lauren Victory explains.
Jacob Jurinek and Franco Patino used to call themselves Batman and Superman. The longtime best buds never knew they'd actually save lives.
"We need to make something come of this. We need to do something," said Jurinek's cousin, Bridget Hyland, sharing part of the conversation her family had within hours of hearing Jurinek and Patino were two of the ten victims at the AstroWorld concert stampede in Houston in November.
"He [Jurinek] was this larger-than-life guy. He had such a strong impact on so many people, so we decided truly right away that we wanted to figure out a way to keep that memory alive," said Hyland.
Affectionally called "Big Jake" by his family, and other times dubbed "Jurn," Jurinek's family decided to "Continue The Jurn-ey" through a blood drive happening this Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center at 305 W Jackson Avenue in Naperville.
"Blood is essentially a medicine that we can't make in a lab anywhere," said Hyland, who is very familiar with the power of donations.
She is a pediatric resident.
"I work in a children's hospital. On a daily basis, we see our cancer patients, our trauma patients, our patients with blood disease who require blood for life-saving medicine," said Dr. Hyland.
She recently helped organize blood donations at Southern Illinois University, where her cousin was a student. Collections from the drive potentially saved 177 lives.
"It was awesome. So great to hear. That's beyond what we could've hoped for," said Hyland, who has her fingers crossed for another super turnout in honor of the superhero friends.
Donation appointments are recommended but not required.
The blood drive will be held Sunday, April 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Room at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Center, at 305 W. Jackson Ave. in Naperville.
Registration can be completed through the Versiti blood donation website or donor app, by calling (800) 7TO-GIVE, or by scanning the QR code on the flyer below.
