He Donated His Ultra-rare Blood 545 Times While Visiting Every Blood Bank in Australia.
Trevor Bergman, a 59-year-old Melbourne police officer, has donated blood or plasma at all 85 Lifeblood donation centres in Australia, finishing in Canberra after 545 donations in total.
Trevor Bergman, a 59-year-old police officer from Melbourne, has donated at all 85 Lifeblood donation centres in Australia, according to ABC News. He finished the challenge by giving plasma in Canberra, the last location on his list. Across his lifetime he has made 545 donations.
Bergman has given blood since he was 18. The idea for the challenge came about 10 years ago, when he stopped at a blood bank while on holiday in Perth and saw donating as a way to see more of the country. He said the trips took him up the east coast, across to Western Australia and up to Darwin, to places he probably would not otherwise have visited.
He is one of about 150 Australians who carry the anti-D antibody. Aania Tandon of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood said the antibody is given to nearly 48,000 pregnant women each year to protect their babies from haemolytic disease of the newborn. She explained that when a mother's blood type is negative and her baby's is positive, the mother's immune response can target the baby's blood, and the antibody prevents that response.
Not every visit ended in a donation. Bergman said staff in Albany, Western Australia, turned him away because he had a sniffle and asked him to come back. He accepted that, saying the blood supply needs to be as secure as possible. His final donation, in Canberra in May, was joined by governor-general Sam Mostyn, who also gave blood.
Lifeblood says one in three people in Australia will need blood at some point. Donations are used for cancer patients, people with auto-immune conditions and road accident victims. Donations rose after an urgent callout earlier this month, when blood and plasma supplies fell to their lowest point in ten years during a prolonged cold and flu season. Tandon said demand remains high and that close to 60 percent of adults are eligible to donate but only about 3 percent do. She asked people to make time because "the need for blood never takes a break."
Bergman said he was motivated by a wish to help others and to see as much of Australia as possible. "It's very nice to know that in a small way, I've helped the community," he said.
Note: The headline calls his blood ultra-rare. The page says he is one of about 150 Australians who carry the anti-D antibody, and does not describe a rare blood type.
At a Glance
- Trevor Bergman has made 545 donations across all 85 Lifeblood donation centres in Australia.
- His final location was Canberra, where he donated plasma in May with governor-general Sam Mostyn.
- About 150 Australians carry the anti-D antibody, which is given to nearly 48,000 pregnant women each year.
- Lifeblood says about 60 percent of Australian adults are eligible to donate, but only about 3 percent do.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.