Blood Donors helping save my son's life

penana

One of my sons, himself the father of two small boys, is in St. Vincent's Hospital undergoing treatment for leukemia, which involves daily blood transfusions. He's posting his experiences on a blog for family and friends; this is a recent entry:

"One thing that really struck me was [my wife] noticing that one of the bags of platelets was dated just a week before it was being given to me. As these bags of blood and platelets come in to me, I haven’t really thought about the fact that another human being actually took the time out of their day to stop, sit, and donate this thing which is helping me get better.

So little effort to help make someone else’s life better—or be part of why they still have their life, period. Holy ****. (Insert emotional flood here.)"

If you've ever given blood, thank you with all our hearts. If you'd like to join this rank of heroes or want to learn more about it, these sites can help you help:

In Dublin [info for other Counties can be found from their Home Page]: http://www.giveblood.ie/Where_to_Give_Blood/?county=Dublin

To find out about giving platelets, visit http://www.giveblood.ie/Become_a_Donor/Give_Platelets/Can_I_Give_Platelets/

Thank you and God bless you.:)

Dave!

Do ya mind posting his blog address?

All the best to your son

JustAddWater

Sorry about your son

Great post and hopefully will encourage donations!

penana

Dave! - Just checked with him and he said sure; here's the link:
http://zen.org/

There's a menu at the bottom right of the page from which you can get to older posts, if you'd like to read from the beginning.

Thanks for your interest and concern!:)

meg3178

Wishing your son all the very best. It is hard on everyone close to your son and thank you for asking people to give blood.
The platelets do not have a long shelf life, which is why they were so recent and the demand for them is huge. Don't worry if people cannot attend a platelet donation clinic, platelets are taken from a whole blood donation as well.

I received a number of units of blood when my son was born, without those people giving their time and effort, I would have died. My son is now a teenager and I am so thankful to those generous donors, and all the people involved in the whole process to help me become well.

Good luck to your son and your whole family.

penana

Dave! - The blog link I posted earlier wasn't entirely accurate; sorry! Here's the correct one, with the Older Posts menu at the bottom of the page:
http://www.zen.org/category/leukemia/

Many thanks to all who've been sending good wishes.:)

Micky Dolenz

Best of luck to your boy.

It is amazing how a small thing like rolling up your sleeve can make such a difference to someone else's life.