Blood really is in you to give, and one local woman is encouraging everyone to give theirs before the summer is out.
Wanda Semashkewich is taking the lead on the Donald Sissons Blood Drive, which began at the beginning of July and will run until the end of August.
Sissons, Semashkewich’s father, is currently staying at the Athabasca Hospital where he is being treated for a blood disease known as aplastic anemia. It’s a disorder in which the body's bone marrow doesn't make enough new blood cells. As a result, he needs transfusions every week, and new blood platelets every two days.
He has been unable to leave the hospital since being diagnosed in February.
Semashkewich is encouraging members of the community to give their blood at community donor clinics throughout the summer. Unfortunately there are none currently slated for Athabasca, but they can be found in other places like St. Albert, Edmonton and Sherwood Park.
Not everyone who goes to a clinic may be eligible to donate, so Semashkewich hopes that at least 50 blood donations are made by the end of August.
On average, it takes seven minutes to give blood.
For more information on the drive or to find out where to donate, contact Wanda at 780-213-0628.
