Isabelle Robinson

Isabelle has been involved in her community, Calgary, in a perhaps more subtle way than some of the ways other families have been. Subtle, but no less important.

Auntie Isabelle has been donating blood for some twenty five years.  For the first couple of those year (about five), Uncle Dale would drive her to the clinic and wait patiently until she was finished.  One day, she recalls, Dale decided that he should too.

Here are some facts about blood donation:

Every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. Much of the blood that is transfused every year is done under emergency or trauma situations. In Canada, hundreds of thousands of people each year receive blood components or blood products following accidents, during surgery or for cancer treatments, burn therapy, hemophilia and other blood-related diseases.

• The average amount of blood in one person is five litres or 10.5 pints
• There are approximately 450 ml of blood in a unit
• On average, 4.6 units of blood are required per patient
• In 2004/2005 Canadian Blood Services collected approximately 850,000 units of whole blood

Through their donations, Isabelle and Dale potentially impacted the lives of nearly 25 people.  Their donations might even have saved those 25 lives.  To me, it's a pretty impressive way to be involved in your community. So much so that it has inspired me to start donating blood through the drives that happen at work.

Isabelle is an A, Uncle Dale was an O.
I'm A positive - do you know what you are?