The Egoli West Donor Awards event, hosted by the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), was held to thank a large group of West Rand blood donors for their acts of kindness.
Recipients who have made 20 and more blood donations so far were treated to a three-course meal at Usambara Lodge on Saturday 19 March.
Those who donated 20, 50, 75, 100, 125, 300, 350 and 400 units of blood were thanked with medals and some even received a cash prize.
The Egoli West branch was celebrated as being one of the most valuable in Gauteng and the country. Tommy Scanes, the donor support manager, said almost 29 000 units of blood have been donated through the branch. That equates to a little over 14 000 litres of blood.
“SANBS thanks its donors for making the miracle of blood transfusion possible in South Africa,” he said.
Lukas Barnard was the last to receive his award for the most donations in a lifetime. He donated 400 units of blood thus far. He donated many units of white blood cells to his friend who was undergoing chemotherapy. He has sadly passed away since.
“I began donating blood in the 70s, and never stopped,” he told the News.
Lukas, who turned 64-years-old, still leads an active and healthy life and loves a game of squash and golf every week.
He said he would rather be on the giving end than the receiving of blood and feels obligated to help, while he is able to.
But one of the attendees was on the receiving end, twice. Kim McCusker had a blood transfusion during an open-heart surgery when she was just a baby. In 2011 she once again needed blood when she was involved in a car accident.
“I taxi drove over me and dragged me for 780 metres. I needed extensive surgery and thank you as donors for helping to save my life,” she said.
“I have received nine blood units already. If it was not for the blood transfusions, I would not be here.”
The collections manager for the SANBS branches at Westgate in Roodepoort and the Anthos Centre in Monument said the target for the West Rand has increased for next year and encouraged the regular donors to motivate friends and family to also help save lives through donating blood.
Kieth Nash, the donor committee chairperson, ended the morning by reminding the current and future donors that SANBS is a donor-based operation and that it could not function without the people kind enough to donate.
To view more photos of the event, click here.
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