Gardaí to cycle 1,000km to bank a month’s supply of blood

A man whose dying son made it to his 21st birthday thanks to blood transfusions is now setting out to bank a remarkable month’s supply of blood.

Garda Stephen Roe said he and 17 colleagues are embarking on a gruelling 1,000km blood donor recruitment cycle next month because he and his family enjoyed five extra years with their late son Alex thanks solely to blood donations.

“We have no doubt about it — Alex would have died without the transfusions. We are just so grateful for the extra years with him,” Stephen said.

He hopes the cycle will highlight the importance of blood donations and encourage a new generation of donors to sign up.

Alex, who had special needs, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005. The aggressive treatment regime left him fighting for his life after every round of treatment.

Over the next five years, Alex received more than 50 blood transfusions. He died on May 31, 2010, having celebrated his 21st birthday.

“You could literally see the life coming back in to him as the blood went in. It was unbelievable to watch,” Stephen said.

“It transforms lives. And unless you are affected directly, you just don’t see the instant impact. We got an extra five years with him directly from blood donations. And for that, we are so grateful.”

After Alex’s death, Stephen became a blood donor, and launched the Garda Blood4Life cycle event.

Last year, he and more than a dozen colleagues completed the 660km Malin to Mizen cycle which resulted in 3,000 pledges — a week’s supply of blood.

This year, Stephen and his colleagues have upped the mileage and raised the donor target. They plan to complete a 1,000km cycle between May 12 and 16 — the equivalent of five consecutive Ring of Kerry cycles — passing through each of the 26 counties, and sign up 3,000 donors who could provide enough blood to keep the national blood bank stocked for a month.

Stephen Cousins of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service said an estimated one in four people will require a blood transfusion in their lifetime.

“But only 3% of the population are active donors,” he said.

“Unfortunately, not everybody can give blood, so the service needs to attract new donors and encourage existing donors to give more regularly.

“The Blood4Life 2014 Cycle will help us increase awareness of the need for more donors, and start interested people on the road to giving blood.”

* People can pledge a unit of blood on the IBTS website, giveblood.ie.

Info

*The IBTS needs 3,000 donations a week.

*Blood lasts just 35 days. Platelets and neonatal blood lasts between five and seven days only.

*IBTS aims to hold about seven days’ supply of blood at any given time.

*47% of the population are O positive.

*8% of the population are O negative but this blood group represents 14% of all blood used.

*Just 3% of the eligible population give blood.

*Donors give on average 1.6 times a year. They may be able to donate up to four times a year.