Longtime friends and blood donors Joan McGorman and Floralove Katz had a cross-country visit via FaceTime on Tuesday to mark milestone donations.
McGorman, 72, had just finished making her 50th blood donation in Victoria as Katz, 67, was sitting down to donate for the 150th time in Ottawa.
The two, who met years ago when both were playing cello in the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, used to donate together in Ottawa before McGorman moved to Victoria in 2019. They call themselves “blood buddies.”
McGorman said her blood-donation journey began in earnest in the early 1970s after she received a blood transfusion during hip surgeries. “I received in two separate surgeries four units of blood.”
She decided donating blood was something she could do for others while showing her gratitude for her medical treatment.
“It is an easy thing,” she said at the Canadian Blood Services centre on Saanich Road. “The little poke after getting hooked up to the system is really minor.”
The two decided to make their latest donations public in hopes of inspiring more people to follow their lead.
McGorman said you never know when you will need donated blood “and it’s important that it’s available.”
“I’m happy to donate as long as I can.”
Katz said part of her impetus for donating blood so regularly is her family’s connection to health care — her father was pioneering biomedical engineer Leon Katz, who developed one of the first-ever heart-lung pumps used in open-heart surgery.
She noted that less than four per cent of people eligible to donate blood “actually roll up their sleeves and give.”
“Surgeries are cancelled if there isn’t a good blo0d supply,” Katz said. “Dialysis patients, cancer patients, trauma patients, everybody needs blood.”
She said she reached her 150 blood donations over 50 years, starting in 1974.
Canadian Blood Services community-development manager Ann Chabert said there is a particular need for donors as spring break approaches.
“People are on vacation, people have other plans than to come and donate, so we’re always in a bit of a dip at spring break,” she said.
To donate, go to blood.ca or call 1-888-2DONATE.
