Help others by donating blood and bone marrow
FERNDALE – Crossfit Cyprium Gym proves they, just like doctors, can save the lives of many.
The opprtunity to donate blood and register as a bone marrow donor is still open.
As part of efforts to raise awareness around five-month-old Mackenzie Friedman, members of the Crossfit Cyprium Gym donated their blood to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) on 12 June. The donations were made in recognition and support of little Mackenzie who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia earlier this year. Since then various campaigns have been held online in support of her and her fight against the cancer affecting her bone marrow and blood.
Mackenzie is not the only one going through such and due to this, the #MightyMack Army has urged members of the public to donate blood and register to be a bone marrow donor. This will help ensure that there is stock of these whenever they are needed, like the case of Mackenzie.
To be a blood donor, one needs to meet the following requirements:
- Be between 16 and 75 years old
- Weigh at least 50 kilograms
- Be in good health
- Lead a low-risk lifestyle
- Consider your blood safe for transfusion
- Have had a balanced meal within four hours of donating blood
- Have not donated blood in the last 56 days
For more information on blood donations, please visit the SANBS (https://sanbs.org.za/)
The South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) is the entity responsible for bone marrow-related donations. They are entrusted with the complex task of identifying a suitably matched unrelated bone marrow donor. With the chance of finding a match being approximately one in 100 000, the SABMR performs searches for patients who do not have a match in their own families and whose only chance of survival is a bone marrow transplant.
Visit www.sabmr.co.za to register on the South African Bone Marrow Registry or visit www.dkms-africa.org to register on the DKMS Africa website.
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