Before 2016, whenever I would read news articles about the need for blood donors, I was always inspired to give but never took the time out to do so, or thought about how important giving blood was….until I got sick.
Tragically, I had a perfect storm of health conditions that resulted in ongoing catastrophic blood hemorrhaging and repeated life threatening hospitalizations over the span of 6 years, significantly impacting my quality of life and mental health.
I was hospitalized more times than I can even count. All the veins in my arms and hands had been irreparably damaged due to the years of repeated abuse from the IVs, transfusions of blood, iron, platelets, and endless withdrawals of blood.
One thing was certain: due to the acute nature of my blood loss, if there wasn’t blood readily available, I would not have survived any of my hospitalizations. I’ve been the recipient of 25 blood transfusions and I am alive today because of 25 selfless people who took time out of their day to help someone they’ve never met before.
Yesterday, I completed the Toronto Waterfront half marathon. The event was quite significant for me, because the last time I ran the same race was 6 years ago. At that time, I was already struggling with health issues, and barely managed to cross the finish line. I had to give up running, which was my favourite hobby. So I was quite emotional to be able to complete this year’s race and finally put my health issues behind me.
I’m eternally grateful for the Canadian Blood Services and blood donors everywhere. If you are able to give, your selfless gift will likely save someone’s life much like my donors did for me.
