Blood donors urgently needed
Leah Barnard was diagnosed with Ewing ’s Sarcoma, a form of cancer, at age 27.
She underwent 18 months of treatment that included six months of chemotherapy, a 12hour surgery with nearly a month of recovery and then another round of chemotherapy.
“Basically there was a tumour attached to my shin bone,” she said.
Throughout her treatment, she received numerous blood transfusions and bags of platelets. Now, 13 years after her diagnosis, Barnard is cancer-free, a mother of two and an advocate for people to donate blood.
“I’m very thankful that it’s there and that people do donate. Just given my history of going through cancer and stuff, I myself am not able to donate and everything, so I always like to make sure I’m an advocate for everybody else going in and doing it when it’s needed,” she said.
“You just never know when it’s going to become a need to someone else.”
Right now the need is high. Canadian Blood Services is urging people to add donating blood to their summer activities list after announcing that 22,000 more blood donors are desperately needed across the country by Labour Day.
The organization has experienced a slowdown in donations over the summer months as people get caught up in summer fun, and more donations are needed to ensure the national blood inventory can meet demand for the rest of the summer.
“Summer historically is a bit of a challenging time at Canadian Blood Services,” said Aaron Barlow, the service’s Regina territory manager and donor relations.
“People’s schedules change, they ’re travelling, they have different things that they’re going to, so blood donation is just not a top-ofmind thing during the summer.”
Regina currently has 514 available blood donation appointments before the Labour Day weekend, and Barlow said the goal is to fill every single spot.
He said regular donors often rebook their next donation date right after a donation, so the summer gap can potentially hurt the number of consistent donors throughout the year.
Blood also has a shelf life, so a surplus of donors in one season does not guarantee enough supply in the next.
On average, Canadian Blood Services tries to fill 416 appointment slots per week in Regina.
To book an appointment, go to blood.ca or call 1-888-2DONATE.