The 23-year-old service advisor at Mitsubishi Motors Ashburton is a plasma donor and would love for others to join him as the New Zealand Blood Service struggles to meet demand.
Plasma is the golden-colored liquid that makes up just over half of our blood. Plasma is used to treat up to 50 diseases and for a wide range of life-saving treatments. It carries blood cells, water, proteins, and clotting factors.
New Zealand Blood Service needs to collect more than 2,600 plasma donations each week to meet demand, but is short by about 250 donations each week.
“Giving plasma is important. If I give it, other people can live their lives,” Regan said.
Plasma donors can donate every two to three weeks. This is more frequent than blood donations, because the red blood cells and platelets are returned to the body during the plasma donation process.
Regan said she has donated plasma several times over the past five years.
“I would like to donate more often, but the mobile clinic that comes to Ashburton can't accept plasma. You have to go to Christchurch for that,” Regan said.
“It takes about an hour to give plasma. They take your blood and a machine spins it around and separates the plasma from the blood and your blood is returned to the body,” she said.
“I know they need more donors willing to donate plasma. It's quick and painless to give.
“Donating blood or plasma hasn't stopped me from doing anything. I can still work and play rugby. On the day of the donation they just advise you not to lift anything heavy,” Regan said.
Josh Bankers, acting director of the blood service, said the service calls plasma “liquid gold.”
“It's the gold we all carry in our blood, and for thousands of New Zealanders it could mean the difference between life and death.”
There are 17,435 plasma donors in New Zealand. Plasma collection targets are expected to grow by as much as 50 percent over the next three years,
“In the next 12 months, we need 1,500 more people to donate plasma regularly. And by 2026, we expect to need a total of around 28,000 plasma donors to keep up with the growing demand.”
- For more information about donating blood or plasma, visit nzblood.co.nz or call 0800 GIVE BLOOD (0800 448 325).
By Dellwyn Moylan