After completing his 400e donating blood on Friday, Martin Tousignant, resident of Outaouais, hopes to reach 500 donations before he turns 60 and, ultimately, to reach 1,000.
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“I’m aiming for 500 before 60, in three years. I give about 40 times a year on average. I will go to 1000,” declared Mr. Tousignant.
The fifty-year-old has been donating blood since he was 19, and did not hesitate to take his children along from a very young age.
“I took my kids to the clinics when they were very young, they would come and get snacks, they loved it, and then they always saw me giving,” he added.
Jacob, his son, is also at his 5e Don. “I see my father who has been doing it since I was very little, it inspires me a lot, I see that it gratifies him and it gratifies me just as much,” he said.
Young donors are also quite rare in clinics, where donors are often over 50 years old.
Héma-Québec is launching an appeal to young people between 18 and 30 years old. According to the organization, young donors come forward through word of mouth and encouragement from parents.
Awareness in schools is also widespread. This is what brought Jade and Philippe to come on Friday.
“I think that donating has a lot more impact than we think. There are people who need this gift to function day to day,” said the young woman.
“The feeling of pride after donating blood is just indescribable,” added Philippe.
According to Héma-Québec, barely 3% of the population of giving age make donations, hence the importance of raising awareness, because the needs are numerous.
“We have special needs for people in group O, negative and positive, and people in group B negative as well,” explained Josée Larivée, spokesperson for Héma-Québec.
See the testimonials in the video above.
