Blood Donation: A Plea to Give

Blood Donation:  A Plea to Give

Memories of her childhood, her parents, her pet dog, family vacations, graduating College, her teaching career, her students,  falling in love and marrying her husband, and the birth of their daughter………………the visions fade………a white light…………..and then silence……………broken only by the painful sobbing of a heartbroken man outside the emergency room door.   The doctor lays a hand on the man’s shoulder and whispers “I’m sorry”……….the man, walks towards the waiting room trying to compose himself and find the words to tell their daughter that her Mommy is gone, there wasn’t enough blood to save her.

Increasing the national blood supply is, without exaggeration, a matter of life and death for thousands of patients in Canada.  

Blood is used in emergency situations to stabilize patients during surgeries and for the treatment of diseases such as liver failure and cancer. For example, victims of a serious car crash can require up to 50 units of blood, while leukemia patients can require up to 80 - 90 units every week.  

In September 2017 the Canadian Blood Services reported that there was between 12,000 and 14,000 units of blood on hand; the country requires a minimum of 20,000 units at any given time to meet the national requirements.  Every 60 seconds someone in Canada needs at least one unit of blood.

The local chapter of Canadian Blood Services needs to collect 15,000 units of blood per year to meet the needs of hospitals in Newfoundland and Labrador and in August 2017 the levels were 10% less than the same month last year.

Blood is the 3rd largest naturally occurring liquid on earth; coming in just short of water and oil.   You ask, why is there such a shortage?   Water and oil resources are owned by governments and corporations.  They can be developed, produced, refined, and traded on the commodities market.   However, we as individuals own the property rights of our blood.  It can only be given by our own free will.

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