StemCell Therapy

Clifford LeBrun is seen here on Tuesday donating blood for the 269th time in his life. Wednesday marks the last day the Canadian Blood Services will be holding donor clinics in Timmins.Elena De Luigi/The Daily Pressjpg, TD

For Clifford LeBrun, donating blood is personal.

On Tuesday, he donated for the 269th time at the last Canadian Blood Services donor clinic being held in Timmins.

His goal is to reach 300 though its not likely to happen at a clinic held in Timmins.

LeBrun has been giving the gift of life since he was 18. He said he remembers the first time he ever donated blood.

I had a little friend that got hit by a truck coming out in front of the bus and he died because there was a blood shortage. So I started then.

Since that first time, LeBrun always keeps his little friend in mind.

Its the gift of life. So look at it that way. Its easy. My little friend wouldnt have passed away if there would have been enough blood at St. Marys Hospital at that time.

Its rewarding. Its self-rewarding.

Jenny Fortin, territory manager in Northeastern Ontario for Canadian Blood Services, said the organization is transitioning out of whole-blood collections in the region. Residents will be able to continue to donate plasma in Sudbury once the transition is complete.

Were really thankful for the communitys support that weve received all these years and just wanted to celebrate that support and say thank you to the community, she said, adding it will be bittersweet for regular donors.

Fortin said she encourages people to donate plasma when they are in the Sudbury area, and to also visit the organizations website for more ways to contribute.

Theres a lot of ways to still be a part of Canadas lifeline moving forward, she said, adding people can join the Organs and Tissues Registry, or the Stem Cell Registry.

Fortin said the organization is hoping to collect 120 units of blood each day from residents in Timmins during the last two days of the donor clinic.

When asked if he will travel to Sudbury to donate plasma, LeBrun said he would make the trip.

Im Type O (negative). Its universal. I believe Ive helped over 600 people. I will continue.

Fortin said it is especially important to donate blood during holidays.

Typically we do see a decline in people walking through our doors, just because people are out and about a little bit more and theyre buying presents and visiting family so donating blood is not necessarily top of mind. But with an increase in the amount of people on the roads, we do see an increase in the amount of accidents (and) the need for blood actually goes up, she said, adding it can take up to 50 units of blood to help one accident victim.

One unit is equivalent to one donor, so thats 50 donors.

LeBrun, who was also a volunteer for Canadian Blood Services for 10 years, said he was on list to donate if there ever was major accident, but he has not had that chance.

It just never happened, he said.

Asked about its decision to discontinue blood donor clinics in Timmins, Canadian Blood Services offered this explanation to The Daily Press, Canadian Blood Services will be opening a proof-of-concept plasma donation centre in Sudbury in the summer of 2020. In preparation for the opening of this centre, the Sudbury whole blood donation centre will be closing in January. We are discontinuing the mobile blood donation events in the surrounding Northern Ontario communities.

While we understand this is a change for the generous blood donors in communities in Northern Ontario, we are taking steps to increase the amount of plasma collected in Canada to meet rising patient demand.

This change will not impact the availability of blood products for hospitals or patients. We operate a national inventory which ensures the quality and safety of our products and services while working efficiently to help hospitals get the right treatment to patients where and when they need them.

We are grateful for the many blood donors in Timmins, and their commitment to saving lives. There are other ways to support Canadas Lifeline, including but not limited to joining the national stem cell registry, registering your intent to become an organ and tissue donor, or making a financial donation.

With the mobile units being discontinued, the nearest location from Timmins for residents to donate blood will be Parry Sound.

We appreciate that it may be too difficult to travel a great distance to donate blood, the organization stated. When possible, many people opt to include blood donation in their travel plans in Canada.

Today is the final day of the last blood donor clinic being held in Timmins. It is being held at Paroisse St. Dominique Hall from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Here is the original post:
End of blood donor clinics in Timmins - Timmins Press

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