IT may have taken her 30 years to achieve, but Ipswich’s Cath Stanbrook said she was ecstatic to have reached a milestone she never thought she’d achieve.
Despite an early fear of needles Cath has now taken a seat to donate blood 100 times.
The donations equate to her helping to save the lives of up to 300 Australian patients along the way.
With more than 23 years’ experience as a social worker at Ipswich Hospital, helping people is in her veins. In her teens and early 20s,
Cath stressed out whenever she was approached by a medical practitioner holding a needle, but after giving birth to her first child, she decided that if she could go through childbirth, she could do anything, including giving blood donation a try.
“I gave my first blood donation in Townsville in the 90’s and what I thought it’d be like, and the actual experience, were nothing alike,” she said. “It was so easy – the staff really helped put my mind at ease, and it felt wonderful knowing my blood donation would directly help three or more patients,” Cath said.
“As a senior social worker, I work closely with expectant mothers and their newborns every day.
“I know first-hand the lifesaving difference a blood transfusion can make when it’s needed.
“I started giving plasma several years ago when it was explained to me the versatility of the product. It’s now become part of my fortnightly routine and I feel so at home when I visit the team at the Red Cross Ipswich Donor Centre at Riverlink.
“I’m highly motivated to help patients when they’re at their most vulnerable, whether it’s through my work or as a plasma donor – it gives me an enormous amount of personal satisfaction,” she said.
Lifeblood spokesperson Sandee Thompson said, every week Lifeblood needs 33,000 blood donations around the nation to meet patients’ needs.
“In Ipswich alone we need 350 people to donate blood and plasma every week to meet demand,” she said.
One third of Australians will need blood or plasma products in their lifetime, and yet just one in 30 people donate.
To book a donation call 13 14 95.
