“Love like Louden” blood drive

MUSCATINE, Iowa (KWQC) - The city of Muscatine is acknowledging the life of a child lost too soon to medical complications.

The Lofgren family hosted a blood drive Saturday morning to honor their 2-year-old son Louden Lofgren, who passed away after surgical complications.

“Louden was a 2-year-old who passed away in April of 2021,” Olivia Fogelsong, the blood drive host, recalled. “He was full of energy and life, and we call it ‘Love like Louden’ because that kiddo knew how to love.”

Back on April 2, 2021, Lofgren went to the Iowa City Ambulatory Surgical Center to undergo surgery to prevent future ear problems. Unbeknownst to the surgeons the procedure would create other issues for Lofgren. During his recovery, his hemoglobin levels, which were edging dangerously low, were causing his heart rate to increase and his breathing to become more shallow. Ten days after the initial surgery, Lofgren died on the emergency trip to the University of Iowa Hospital.

“Since that point, our family wanted to give back to the community because of how wonderful they were to our family when he did pass away,” Fogelsong said.

For the Lofgren family, there was no better way to share their appreciation than by hosting multiple ‘Love like Louden’ blood drives.

“It really kind of gives the families a way to turn something negative into a positive, and really impact their communities and help them,” Alex Burkamper, ImpactLife’s community development advocate, said.

Burkamper described how blood drives like ‘Love like Louden’ and ‘Give like Charly’ impact local hospitals by keeping a steady supply of material coming in for potentially unexpected incidents.

To learn where to donate and when new events are coming up, check out the ImpactLife website.

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