Police Department Hosting Blood Drive to Honor One of its Own

Had it not been for the generosity of his own brother, Sgt. Steve Stroh might not be here today.

Stroh has been battling Multiple Myeloma—a cancer which attacks plasma cells in the bone marrow—for close to three years. He received a stem cell transplant following the initial diagnosis, but relapsed twice since then. In September, Stroh received a bone marrow transplant with cells donated from his brother, John.

Officer Kevin Rofidal is confident that transplant is one of the main reasons his friend and co-worker appears to finally be making a recovery.

"From what they've told us, only 30 percent of people are able to find a transplant within the family like he did," Rofidal said. "It's very rare and (John) was actually a very good match as well. It's just amazing."

Stroh is now back working part-time with the department, scheduled to have his 100-day check up at the Mayo Clinic this week.

The department had been working to figure out a way to show some support for Stroh, but Rofidal said it wasn't until recently that they were able to take on an active role.

"There's been kind of a void of what the people at work can do," he said. "We kind of came up with this way of helping after his bone marrow transplant. It inspired us, in a way."

The department is hosting a community blood drive and bone marrow registry in honor of Stroh, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Rather than only allowing Stroh's fellow officers to donate, Rofidal said they decided to open it up to the entire Edina community.

Interested donors can sign up ahead of time at www.mbc.org/searchdrives—searching for drive number 0111—or by calling Jessica Olson at (651) 332-7172.

It's nothing new for the department, which has been involved with Memorial Blood Centers since 2000—when Officer Mike Blood was shot during the First Star Bank Robbery.

"He received more than 15 gallons of blood to save his life," Rofidal said. "After seeing first-hand how it can save a life, we thought as an agency it would be good for us to get more involved in something like this."

Edina Police Department Spokeswoman Molly Anderson said Stroh is "very touched by all the support."

"He hopes for a good turnout because there are a lot of people who need both the blood and marrow donations," Anderson said.

Rofidal said it will be completely up to donors whether they want to participate in one or both parts of the marrow registry and blood drive. The marrow registry takes all of 20 minutes, he said, though blood donors should expect to set aside close to an hour.

"This is really a chance for people to make a difference, to save a life," Rofidal said.