At the Western Cape Blood Service headquarters, where blood is tested and processed daily to ensure it’s safe for patients across the province, you’ll find a committed team working quietly behind the scenes in the laboratories. Among them is Siphokazi, a Reagents Laboratory Manager who, in 2022, found herself on the receiving end of the very service she’s dedicated her career to supporting.
“I was pregnant when I experienced complications that required an emergency blood transfusion,” Siphokazi explains. “At that moment, everything changed. I went from being someone who prepares blood for others, to being the one in desperate need of it.”
Her condition was critical. Over a short period, she received 6 units of red blood cells (RBCs), 4 units of frozen plasma (FFP), 1 pool of platelets, and 6 units of cryoprecipitate (CRYO). These blood products helped stabilise Siphokazi and was ultimately a life-saving transfusion.
“I am alive today because of blood donors. Without that transfusion, I don’t know if I would have made it.”
It’s a deeply humbling experience for someone who has always understood the importance of blood donation but never thought she’d rely on it so personally. “Working in the laboratory, I’ve always known how essential blood is. But being a recipient shifted my perspective completely. It’s no longer just about test tubes and results it’s about the human beings on the other side,” she says. “This has motivated me to continue saving lives as I’m a blood donor myself.”
Siphokazi often thinks about the anonymous donors who helped with her life-saving blood transfusion. “I wish I could meet them in person. I’d say, ‘Enkosi kakhulu, namhlanje ndiyaphila ngenxa yakho.’ (Thank you so much, today I am alive because of you.)”
Siphokazi’s life-saving transfusion story shows that donating blood doesn’t just save strangers — it can save someone you work with, someone you know, or even you. Blood is not just a donation, it’s a lifeline.
