Self less blood donor deserves to receive Order of Canada
Re: “Calgarian donates blood for 1,000th time,” Jan. 31.
I was thrilled to read of Ken Zachary achieving the 1,000-donation milestone. I, too, am a longterm blood donor, having started in 1980 on a dare at the U of A during a blood drive as an engineering student.
I have crossed paths with Ken many times at the Calgary pheresis clinic, and was there when he made 800.
I had to take a break of over two years from donating when I suffered a stroke after a motorcycle accident in 1996. A couple of weeks after the acci- dent, I attended a blood donor conference in Ottawa to help give support to long-term donors in response to the Krever inquiry into the tainted blood scandal.
At the time, I had only 144 donations to my name. That was where I first learned of Ken’s devotion to blood donation, and he became an inspiration for my return to the program. That, and the incredible devotion to the donors and the sacrifices of health nurses like Cathy Yanosik, Linda Smith, Margaret Moynihan et al. Their patience and kindness, and maybe something they put in the cookies, kept many of us coming back.
Sadly, due to health problems, I had to retire from donating a couple of years ago, with a total of 350 donations.
Ken’s endurance and dedication was always an example for me, as I’m sure for many others.
I would suggest to the Governor General that people like Ken be elevated to the Order of Canada, because of their commitment to the betterment of our society, even to the repeated giving of their very life’s essence so that others may live.
Chris Straub, Calgary