Evan’s blood drive an unqualified success 648 northern Alberta patients will benefit

Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
   
    Late December’s two-day blood drive for Evan Wallace, the three-year-old Sedgewick girl who was recently diagnosed with a rare form of  acute myeloid leukemia, was a huge success.

    The results, according to Canadian Blood Services’ Jody Bredo, were phenomenal.

    “We’ve never had a turnout quite like this,” Bredo said.

    The two-day honour drive took place over Dec. 29 and 30, running three-and-a-half hours one evening and four hours the following day.

    “We just can’t believe the support behind our family, to have all those people go out and donate for the very first time is amazing,” said Evan’s mother Jill Wallace.        

“We also had people drive over three hours to do it there specifically.

    “It’s inspiring, and pretty neat to know that Evan has opened some hearts, and eyes and she has helped many of us save lives, between blood and marrow. 

“She is past her 50 mark in blood product transfusions (platelets and red blood cells) and without stranger’s help we wouldn’t be here,” Wallace added, “then to think we are waiting on a complete stranger’s stem cell donation to cure her leukemia….

    “It’s an amazing gift, and couldn’t be more appreciated.  Like they say, it’s in you to give.”

    On the first evening, the target number of donors was 113, with 135 people actually showing up to donate.

    On the second evening, the target number was 65, and 81 people came out.

    In total 216 people donated blood, with 66 new donors.

    To put that into perspective, “A normal two-day blood clinic might generate 10 to 15 first-time donors,” Bredo said.

    With new donors, the processing time adds about 15 minutes to the procedure; with 66 new donors, both days experienced backups of more than two hours.

    That was also something Bredo found remarkable, “The staff commented about how everyone was so pleasant about having to wait.”

    Each donor was given an opportunity to complete an honour card to be given to Evan and her family, and overall, 122 honour cards were collected.

    Bredo said the average number she sees is around 30.

    It’s not too late to help, either. According to Bredo, staff in Camrose will  continue to accept cards for Evan.

    Bredo also said that the blood clinics are held in Camrose every month, “Camrose has a really good base community of donors.”

    The Friday session was only added last year, and hasn’t been consistently hitting its targets, “that’s why we were so thrilled with Evan’s results.”

    If people are wondering what they can do to help others on a regular basis, Bredo says, “Giving blood even three times a year would help enormously; make it your New Year’s resolution.”

    “The northern Alberta district needs 1,000 blood donations per week,” Bredo added. “We try to keep a five day inventory on hand.”

    For every unit of blood donated, three people are helped, because the blood is separated into plasma, platelets and red blood cells.

    The amount of blood donated over the two days has the potential to help 648 Northern Alberta patients.

    The next clinic in Camrose will be on Jan. 19 & 20.

    Appointments can be booked online, or call 1-888-2-DONATE.

    “The need for blood is ongoing; the average cancer patient requires eight units per week, ” Bredo said, “Evan’s need is ongoing too.”