On Friday the 22nd of June the Smile Breakfast team together with Cape Town’s smileys opened their hearts and helped Western Province Blood Transfusion Service boost their stocks ahead of the Winter holidays. While they are always in need of donations, Michelle Vermeulen from WP Blood Transfusion Service said that this time of year is particularly challenging.
“A lot of our regular donors have colds and flu, and as a result can’t donate. Many of our donors are Muslim who can’t donate during the month of Ramadaan. And because of all of the long weekends we’ve had recently we feel our stocks are particularly low this time year”.
A single donation could potentially save 3 lives in an emergency so Bobby & Lindy decided to launch Smile To The Rescue – The Gift of Life Winter Blood Drive. The team invited willing donors to the Smile studios to give up a few minutes of their time to help save a life. Leading up to Friday, Smile Breakfast spoke to a champion Smiley who leads a healthy lifestyle to ensure that he is able to regularly donate blood. Peter, a regular Smile Breakfast listener, has donated blood a total of 107 times in his life, which means he has potentially saved over 300 lives.
“I enjoy it and it doesn’t cost me anything to donate to somebody else that needs it more than I do. Knowing that I’ve helped somebody kept taking me back to donate, and that should be motivating for other people to also donate blood”.
On the morning of The Gift of Life Winter Blood Drive, Bobby & Lindy spoke to someone who was living proof that a blood donation is the gift of life. Aislin Louis paid the team a visit to tell her story and encourage listeners to donate blood.
“In 2016 I thought I had the flu but was rushed into casualty and found out I had stage 5 renal failure. Everything happened so quickly with all the blood and iron transfusions, but I’m here today! Both my parents have been blood donors for years so I’ve always understood how important it is, but now that I’ve gone through this I appreciate it more and I encourage people to go for it. Think about all the people whose lives you’ll be saving”.
The Gift of Life Winter Blood Drive was open from 7:30 till 10:30 and during that time the WP Blood Transfusion Service recorded that 48 donors had paid a visit to donate blood, which means over 140 potential lives could be saved in an emergency. The Smile Breakfast team thanks everyone who came to donate blood and show their support. If you weren’t able to make it to Smile To The Rescue – The Gift of Life Winter Blood Drive and would still like to donate blood, you can find your nearest donor clinic at www.wpblood.org.za.
