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Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
FOUR family members from Hillside suburb in Bulawayo have taken a bold step of saving lives through donating blood and so far they have collectively given 137 pints.
Mr Wayne Deswardt (48) received an award for donating 100 pints of blood since 1991 while his father Mr Brian Deswardt (74) has seen age calling him off the gesture after accumulating 20 donations.
Wayne’s 16-year-old son Jaden Deswardt is set to carry on with his grandfather and father’s legacy as he already has two donations and is still counting.
The donations have collectively added to the 137 pints of blood donated by the family.
Mr Brian and Wayne Deswardt graced the belated World Blood Donor Day held at Pumula High School on Friday.
Speaking to Sunday News on the sidelines of the event, Mr Wayne who received his 100-donation award said nose-bleeding led him to be a regular blood donor.
“I started donating because I had severe nose-bleeding problem and someone suggested that I had too much blood and I should consider donating. So, basically, I started donating because I wanted to prevent the nose-bleeding and it did help in preventing the condition. When I stop donating, I start having nose-bleeding again,” he said.
The former Christian Brothers College (CBC) pupil said to achieve the 100-donation mark was a milestone and honour which he attributed to God.
“I started donating when I was 16 years and I was still at Christian Brothers College. So, when the crew came to school, I remembered that someone had actually suggested that I should donate blood to stop my nose bleed. When I left school, I used to work along Khami Road and I would ride to the clinic at the Bulawayo Centre I think it was called St Andrews.
“I stopped for a few years because of work commitments and then restarted when the cancer association was desperate for blood. I want to thank the Lord for having been fit enough and healthy to donate that amount of blood to the community of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Desdwardt.
Speaking at the same occasion, Bulawayo Provincial Medical Director Dr Maphios Siamuchembu reassured the nation that blood and blood products would continue to be made accessible to all citizens.
“Every single donation is a precious lifesaving gift and repeat donations are the key to building a safe and sustainable blood supply for the Matabeleland provinces and the nation at large. The Second Republic in its quest to make blood and blood products accessible to the populace introduced the free blood initiative in July 2018.
“Thanks to this move, blood and blood products are free in all public, mission and council health facilities nationally. As a result of this policy, access to blood and blood products has tremendously improved for our population,” said Dr Siamuchembu.
This year`s World Blood Donor Day theme was “Give Blood, Give Plasma, Share Life, Share Often”.
Dr Siamuchembu said the focus of this year`s theme was to highlight the importance of giving blood and plasma regularly to create sustainable supply of blood and blood products that can be always available to the population, so that all patients in need could receive timely treatment. — @nyeve14
Online Reporter