By Jihaan Opperman & Nadia Turner
A blood donor representative is also known as a blood donation clinic organiser and is seen as part of us. We rely on them to advise, guide and help us organise a successful blood donation clinic at their school, company, organisation, shopping mall or church. We have a total of 451 donor representatives that plays a vital role in collecting blood; without them, we would not have smooth-running blood drives. This year, we bid farewell to 2 of our most dedicated blood donor representatives.
Susan van Rooyen has been a donor representative at Bergvliet High School since she started her career in education in 2009. She is also a blood donor and donated her first unit of blood with her father back in the day. “I still remember with my first donation, I sat on the lazy boy chair with my blood bag on my lap, and it had a bit of an effect on me”, says Susan. She stopped donating because of the chills she got when she felt the warm blood pack on her lap. It took her quite a few years before she started donating again. Luckily, we have Hemoflows now, and blood packs no longer need to rest on our donors’ laps. Susan only had good things to say about her experience with our staff, the learners and donors over the years. “I got to work with the most compassionate and caring individuals during my time as a donor representative”, says Susan.
Mr Muller has been the donor representative at our Vredenburg blood donation clinic since 1999. Both him and his wife were very involved in the community and used this as an opportunity to help raise awareness of the importance of blood donation. He made it his mission to get learners on board by inviting local high schools to donate blood. They were part of our family for 23 years and recently retired. “The staff has always been friendly and proficient; it makes donating blood enjoyable and knowing that I made a difference in someone else’s life makes me feel good”, says Mr Muller. Loyal to the service, he has been a blood donor since 1998 and has donated 161 units to date.
We want to take this opportunity to thank both donor representatives for their hard work, loyalty and support over the years. We wish them well with their future endeavours and look forward to seeing them at our blood drives!
