Blood, Sweat & Gears - Garda Blood4Life 2014 Cycle launched
Sunday 13th April 2014
Blood, Sweat & Gears - Garda Blood4Life 2014 Cycle launched
They provide the sweat and gears - but it is up to you to provide the blood! Over five days, from May 12 to May 16, a group of around 20 gardaí will undertake a gruelling 1,000-kilometre cycle that will bring them to each one of the 26 counties.
The Garda Blood4Life 2014 Cycle is a novel charity event. It's not a fundraiser. Instead, it aims to recruit blood donors and to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation in communities in every county. Participants in this years event cycled the 180km Ring of Kerry as a training spin on Saturday and details of the event are being announced today.
Last year, the first Blood4Life Cycle generated 3,000 new donors for the Blood Transfusion Service. That's a full week's blood supply. This year we want a month’s supply.
People are asked to pledge a unit of blood on the IBTS website, www.giveblood.ie. Better still, attend a local clinic and turn your pledge into a donation. Last year, many of those who pledged a unit of blood have since returned to give second and third donations.
“Somebody else will do it”
The importance of blood donation cannot be over-stressed. Transfusions save lives - lots of them. From new-born babies to road-crash victims to cancer patients, an adequate supply of blood and blood products are critical to their very survival and recovery.
“It is estimated 1 in 4 of us will require a blood transfusion in our lifetime – but only 3% of the population are active donors. 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,” said Stephen Cousins, National Donor Services Manager, IBTS.
The Blood4Life Cycle was created by Stephen Roe, a Cork City-based garda. In 2005, Stephen's son Alex was diagnosed with leukaemia. Five years of treatment followed. During that time, it took more than 50 blood transfusions to keep Alex alive. He died on May 31, 2010, aged 21.
“Because of the regular blood transfusions – Alex’s petrol as we called it, because it picked him up so much – we got 5 extra years and Alex got to reach his goal of celebrating his 21st birthday. We are forever grateful to the donors who took the couple of hours to give blood - and gave Alex extra years” – Stephen Roe, Garda and originator of Blood4Life Cycle.
Stephen admits that, prior to Alex’s illness, he had never seriously thought about where the blood supply comes from or how vital blood donation is.
Alex's story isn't unique. Around the country, tens of thousands of people benefit from blood transfusions annually.
Stephen is very happy to share Alex's story, to describe the positive impact which the blood transfusions Alex received had on him and on the family as a whole. It literally breathed new life into Alex at times when his system was at its lowest because of the very aggressive treatment he was undergoing. Stephen also talks about how the blood transfusions Alex received gave him an extra five years of life and gave the family an extra five years of Alex. Alex's 21st birthday party was a particularly special event, as without speaking openly about it, they knew they were probably saying goodbye to Alex.
Other blood recipient stories and blood donor stories are also available, please let us know if you are interested in featuring a recipient or a donor.
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