Alan Wooler tries to donate plasma at least once a week.
"The first time I came and saw that picture on the wall over there and this little girl that needed it, a little blonde-haired girl," he said. "I just thought right from there she needs it, why wouldn’t I give it?"
Wooler was one of several people at the Thunder Bay Plasma Collection Site Monday donating on World Blood Donor Day.
"People need it for all different reasons, for cancers and stuff like that," he said. "If it is so necessary and just takes about half an hour to an hour to give it … it’s a good thing in my eyes."
Every minute of every day someone in Canada needs a blood product, said Brian Markic, community development coordinator for Canadian Blood Services in Thunder Bay.
"We want people to save lives by becoming donors," he said. "We don’t see there being blood manufactured artificially for a long, long time so we depend on people to come in and donate."
June 14-20 is National Blood Donor Week and to show donors their appreciation, the Thunder Bay site is serving up coney dogs and Persians all week, which is part of the city’s claim to fame Markic said.
Thunder Bay is the only Canadian Blood Services site specific to just plasma collection and 12,000 units are needed from the site ever year.
Markic said plasma is the Gatorade of blood products; it’s used to help cancer patients improve their auto-immune systems. Plasma can also be donated once a week in contrast to the 56-day wait period between donating blood, which gives individuals a chance to save more lives.
"We’re also encouraging young people to save lives by becoming donors," Markic said. "They’re young; they’re healthy. They’ll be able to donate for a long time."
Anyone interested in donating can call 1-888-2-DONATE to book an appointment.
