New blood donors needed in Manitoba, says leukemia survivor

Amanda Kerr is not able to donate blood herself since she was diagnosed withleukemiain February2010 but she gives her time to Canadian Blood Services as a volunteer advocate, to try and attract new blood donors.

Canada'soverall donor bank is shrinking.Currently in Manitoba there are just over 30,000 active blood donorssoCanadian Blood Services is pushing to attract a new generation of donors. In April,the organization only saw 342 new donors in Manitoba.

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Amanda understands the importance of a healthy blood supply all too well, because she's been at the receiving end many times since she found out she had leukemia five years ago.

"It was quite a shock," Kerr said of her 2010 diagnosis. Shestarted chemotherapy treatmentthe day after she was diagnosed.

A few months later Kerrreceived a bone marrow transplant from an anonymous donor. She was in the hospital for more than a month, receiving various blood transfusions throughout her treatment, she said she received either red blood cells or platelets nearly every day.

"I think I stopped counting at a dozen [transfusions]," Kerr told CBC's Information Radio.

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It takes eight blood donors to supply oneleukemiapatientwith enough blood for a week of treatment, according to Canadian Blood Services.

"Until I needed it, it wasn't something that really registered but afterwards, it was obviously something I needed to save my life. So it's pretty close to my heart now," Kerr said Friday.

Kerr admitted that she had never donated blood prior to her diagnosis.

"I knew that when I recovered I wanted to give back in some way. My way is volunteering and spreading the message since I can't personally donate."