The Tribune

SIXTY-YEAR-OLD Abaco resident Samuel "Will" Bethel lay on the operating table undergoing major surgery and it became quickly apparent that in order to get him through, surgeons were going to require immense amounts of blood. After 30 years in Marsh Harbour, he and his wife Kimberley no longer had a large pool of friends and family members in the capital to call on to donate blood and so his daughter Bianca and his brother-in-law hit the streets. Literally. "They stopped in at every business place on the way up to ZNS to get it put on the radio and down the other side of Collins Avenue to all the other offices and to Radio House to get it put on the radio stations there and then they literally stopped people in traffic to try and get them in to give blood for him. "He was on the table at that point and all the blood they had was already in the operating room," explained his wife Kimberley. His daughter, Bianca, lives in the United States and said it was scary to realise that here in the Bahamas, when blood supplies are low, the only way to get more is to convince people to donate. Still, she was touched by the way people responded to her desperate efforts. "Reaction varied, but most people were quite supportive. We had quite a few people stop their cars and come in. Others said they couldn't donate but promised to call people they know and get the word out. "Businesses we stopped in at along Collins Avenue said they'd email everyone in their office and see if they could get people to come in," she recalled. "It was pretty amazing to see how supportive everyone was, not knowing us at all, but just that 'someone needs help, what can I do' kind of response was great." The Doctors Hospital Blood Bank collected 20 units that day as a result of the extra effort, but despite the heartwarming goodwill of strangers, "Will" still required additional transfusions and so Doctors Hospital Blood Bank supervisor Zonja Bain made a suggestion. She told his wife that if they would drum up the hometown support, she would organise a team to fly into Abaco the next morning and hold a blood drive. So at 5am the following morning, four Doctors Hospital technicians, including Zonja, were at the airport ready to fly themselves and all the equipment needed for a major blood drive at a private clinic in Marsh Harbour. Word travelled fast and from the moment they landed until they had to pack up and fly back home, the Doctors Hospital team took blood non-stop. Of the 50 people who were screened and tested, 36 people were able to donate blood to help save Will's life. Another 56 hopeful blood donors were turned away because the team simply ran out of time. Mrs Bethel got teary eyed as she talked about how much it meant to her family to have people come out in such large numbers to help. "I just love them all. It was clear how they feel about him and us in the way they showed up to donate blood and it really just means so much," she said. The extra effort on the part of the hospital did not go unnoticed either. "It's great that these islands are like that. It's about the patient, the individual and not about the organisation. Just the fact that they were willing to do that - send four people from the blood bank here down to another island for a whole day just to get blood for him - was amazing," said Bianca, herself a healthcare worker. Zonja said while some may see what her team did as going well beyond the call of duty, she sees it as just part of the job. "Our main concern is for the patient and we do anything we can to help them. We'll do whatever it takes to help save a life. "It gives you great joy to see that because of the extra effort we were able to help save his life and not just that, we were able to put his family at ease by doing what we did as well." Thanks to the large turnout in Abaco, the people who responded to Bianca's street-side pleading, and the 12 people who were able to donate at a blood drive held at the law firm Glinton, Sweeting, O'Brien on Friday, Will got all the blood he needed and the Doctors Hospital Blood Bank was able to provide a patient from Spanish Wells with all he required as well as a number of other patients who came in through the weekend. Glinton, Sweeting, O'Brien responded to a corporate programme Doctors Hospital Blood Bank has put together to encourage companies to host blood drives and encourage their staff and customers to donate. Far too often, families like the Bethels find themselves in the position of trying to convince anyone they know to donate blood. Doctors Hospital Clinical Director Dr Michael Darville said as a physician he is often frustrated because he has to delay medical intervention simply because there is not a sufficient supply of blood available. "It's frustrating not only from the medical standpoint but also from the emotional standpoint knowing that something as simple as a transfusion plays such a huge decision in life and death decision making. This is all about altruistic behavior. Money doesn't make the difference here, it's all about the community coming together and doing their part," he said. Having seen firsthand how critical it is for Bahamians to donate blood on a regular basis, Mrs Bethel said: "If you can, by all means do it. Because you just never know when it might be you or someone in your family who needs it. "Many of us can't give blood, but to those who can, I urge you to give blood regularly because it makes all the difference. If all those people hadn't come in to give for Will, we probably would be telling a very different story." To inquire about becoming a blood donor or to learn more about the Doctors Hospital Corporate Blood Donor Programme, contact Zonja Bain at 302-4750.