Following a catastrophic earthquake outside of Agadir, Morocco, in 1960, an urgent call for blood went out to all countries in Europe, and I asked if I was old enough, 16 years of age, to donate. Fortunately I was physically a big boy and they, Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, said they would make an exception. I thus began my blood donation journey.
I continued my donations at Canadian Red Cross, after arriving in Vancouver in 1964 and again in Edmonton in 1968.
In the early 1980s, plasma and platelet donations was introduced and I signed up for that. It turned out that my platelet count was very high, so I was asked to consider doing platelets only, which I agreed to.
I am generally in good health after some major surgeries in the '90s and in 2020, before COVID. I have several good friends who are donors as well, and I waste no time encouraging others to consider donating, even fellow large dog owners. We have always had large dogs, and enrolled them at Canadian Animal Blood Service at an early age.
