MEMORIAL BLOOD DRIVE
Late miner’s partner wants annual event to help others
Doctors pumped more than 180 litres of blood into Chad Wiklun’s broken body in a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to save the 29-year-old potash miner’s life.
Now, just over a year after the underground accident that killed him, his partner and the mother of their two girls is launching what she hopes will become an annual blood drive in his memory.
“It was a way I thought that I could honour Chad and help out a lot of people … It was the only thing I could think of to really make a difference,” Celina Danis said this week in an interview.
Danis said her partner’s accident and its aftermath opened her eyes to the importance of giving blood. She plans to donate for the first time next week during the Canadian Blood Services drive that bears Wiklun’s name.
“There were over 500 units of blood and blood platelets that he used … If those 500 people didn’t donate blood, we would have lost Chad a lot sooner than we did,” Danis said, referring to the rush to give blood immediately following the accident.
Wiklun was injured in the early hours of Aug. 8, 2016 when he was pinned between two pieces of mining equipment at Agrium Inc.’s Vanscoy mine west of Saskatoon. He clung to life for three days before slipping away.
Calgary-based Agrium and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7552, which represents workers at the mine, implemented multiple changes at the operation after the accident. The provincial government has not revealed the findings of its investigation.
Wiklun’s death led to an enormous outpouring of generosity. Besides giving blood, as many as 600 people donated a total of $43,000 to support Danis and their daughters; Agrium matched that contribution.
USW Local 7552 president Darrin Kruger said the first drive to donate blood in the hours and days after Wiklun’s accident made a big impression on the people who experienced it and he’s confident many of his colleagues will participate.
“That’s one of the things we thought: Let’s try and replicate this,” Kruger said this week. “This is something that can go on year after year in Chad’s memory.”
Danis said she was “incredibly touched” by Canadian Blood Services’ willingness to organize a weeklong drive, and that hopefully it can continue growing each year so other people can get the blood they need.
The drive runs Monday through Friday. Canadian Blood Services said in a news release that while all blood types are needed, there is an immediate need for type O negative blood, which can be donated to anyone regardless of their blood type.
This is something that can go on year after year in Chad’s memory.