Urgent call out for blood donations in Red Deer
Canadian Blood Services has issued an urgent call for blood as the organization looks to fill more than 620 open appointments in Red Deer by March 10.
Nationwide, officials say 35,000 donors are needed by Spring Break to ensure all patients continue to have access to the blood and blood products they need, saying the blood supply has steadily declined over the winter months.
In central Alberta, Shelley McFadden knows first-hand the importance of blood donors. On March 14 of 2015, her 16-year-old nephew Taylor Leverick was in a car accident and air-lifted to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton where he received 50-70 units of blood to help keep him alive until his family and friends could get there to say good-bye. Taylor passed away in the early morning hours of March 15.
McFadden says if it wasn’t for blood donations, she and her family wouldn’t have had that time to say goodbye to Taylor.