By Jenny Farley

Nora Magras has worked for the American Red Cross for 20 years.

When she first started, she worked the overnight shift. She is a Lead Laboratory Technician in the Manufacturing, Quarantine and Labeling Lab at the Red Cross Spring Garden Campus in Philadelphia.

She helps process blood after it has been donated and goes through the steps to get it ready to be shipped to someone who needs it.

“My favorite part of this job is what we do,” she said. Nora likes thinking about who the blood is going to help, especially babies and pediatric patients.

“Knowing that it’s going to somebody and saving their life is my favorite part.”

The Cheerleader of the “Culture Squad”

As a member of a co-worker group called the “Culture Squad,” Nora decorates her lab once a month and gets together for meetings where everyone can share stories about their culture, interesting things about work and mission moments they have experienced.

She said the group works to make the Red Cross even better with events like “Lab Week” and “Spirit Week” and by making sure everyone knows management cares about them.

“I’m usually like the cheerleader,” she said.

Nora had been in the group for about a year and a half when someone asked her if she wanted to share her own mission moment.

“I started sharing my story and it went quiet.”

Excitement Over a Disney World Vacation

In April 2008, Nora and her husband were looking forward to taking their two young children to Disney World. Felisha, her oldest, was three-and-a-half years old and her baby Hailey was one-and-a-half.

“She was my quiet, sensitive baby,” she said. “Felisha was my feisty baby. She kept you on your toes!”

Whenever Nora brought her girls to work, they liked giving everyone a hug.

The family was so excited about Disney World, Nora packed the suitcases a few weeks early. They sat next to the door, ready to go.

The morning of April 16, she had just gotten home from work when her apartment caught fire.

Fire Quickly Spread

The flames spread quickly, igniting toys and the luggage.

Holding Hailey, Nora tried to get her daughters out of the house, but the door wouldn’t open. Her clothes were on fire.

She suddenly remembered “Stop, Drop & Roll” and dropped to the ground to try and extinguish the flames.

She tried to get to the fire escape in the kitchen. Her dad, who was home with the kids, helped get her out.

“Everybody knows that smoke rises, but they don’t tell you that the fumes and all the heavy toxins stay at the bottom, and that’s what got the babies,” she said.

She later learned Felisha never made it out.

Rescuers rushed Hailey and Nora to different hospitals. Doctors at the Temple Hospital burn unit treated Nora for second degree burns on her back and feet. The flames had singed her hair.

Red Crossers Provide Comfort and Support

The fire destroyed everything. Furniture, food and clothing were all gone.

Like they would do for a stranger, Red Crossers quickly arrived to help one of their own. They brought water, assisted neighbors, provided comfort and offered a place to stay.

Her co-workers came to the hospital to visit.

“It really was amazing how much everybody here came together to help me,” Nora said.

Blood and Plasma Transfusions Given to Try and Save a Young Life

Hailey received blood and plasma transfusions during her two days in the hospital. Nora said, “I don’t know who the person was. I don’t know what was going on, but I do know who processed the blood and I was like, ‘Well, thank you so much.’”

The smoke inhalation was too much for Hailey. Nora had to plan the funeral for both her girls from the hospital.

“I’ll never forget them trying to save her.”

Family Donates Through “Gift of Life”

The family donated Hailey’s heart and kidneys through the organ donation group “Gift of Life” so that another parent wouldn’t feel the agony of losing a child.

“Her heart went to a two-year-old girl in Canada, and both of her kidneys wound up going to a 50-year-old woman in upstate Pennsylvania.”

The girls were buried in a shared cemetery plot in white ceramic caskets with purple satin.

“We were going to go to Disney and so they each had their own character. Felisha had Mickey, and Hailey had Donald Duck.”

Celebrating the Life of Two Beloved Daughters

Most years on the anniversary of the deadly fire, Nora and her family go to the cemetery to celebrate the lives of their two little girls that will never be forgotten and think about what they would be doing now, like driving.

Sometimes they have a picnic. Sometimes they go camping or on vacation to try and focus on the good times. But not always.

“I have other times where I just stay in bed and I don’t want to get up and that’s all I do for the anniversary.”

Nora and her husband now have a son and a daughter, both with a name that shares a connection with their girls. Her husband and children, along with memories of Felisha and Hailey, give her the strength to move forward.

“I love and miss them both so much and there’s not a single day that I don’t think of them.”

Looking back, Nora said the Red Cross helped her survive.

“They came and helped me. If they didn’t help me, I probably would not still be here.”