Plea from Agrium worker's family sparks surge of Saskatoon blood donations

Canadian Blood Services is seeing a surge of donations in Saskatoon thanks to the plea put out by the family of a man who was fatally injured at the Agrium potash mine in Vanscoy, Sask.

Chad Wiklun, 29, died Wednesday night after being seriously hurt while working underground early Monday.

• Agrium worker seriously injured underground at Vanscoy, Sask., potash mine
• Chad Wiklun, 29, dies after accident at Agrium Vanscoy, Sask., potash mine

Before Wiklun succumbed to his injuries, his family encouraged Canadians to donate blood.

"We've seen a great response from family and friends over the last couple of days really just coming to show their support," said Judy Jones, associate director of donation relations for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

On Wednesday, the Saskatoon clinic collected 175 units of blood, beating its goal of 150. On Thursday morning, 80 units were collected, surpassing the goal of 64 units.

"We've heard a lot of comments from the donors coming in that they are coming in to help support the family and the friends [of Wiklun]," Jones said.

Even though the surge has meant longer donation times, Jones said donors seem to be in good spirits.

Family Pizza even provided food for people who were waiting to donate.

For those who want to donate blood but never have before, Jones said the first step is visiting blood.ca to take an eligibility quiz.

Jones added that the need is always greatest for O negative blood.

"Your blood type is used in trauma situations just like this instance."