Vehicle spare parts dealers at Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State, yesterday came out en masse to willingly donate blood for people living with leukaemia and other deadly diseases that require blood transfusion.
The Timilehin Leukaemia Foundation, with support from the Lagos State government, had yesterday afternoon in conjunction with the Agidingbi Spare Parts Dealers Association, organised a voluntary blood donation exercise to create awareness on the leukaemia disease, and on voluntary blood donation.
Leukaemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow. It can happen when there is a problem with the production of blood cells and it usually affects the leukocytes, or white blood cells. It is most likely to affect people over the age of 55 years, but it is also the most common cancer in those aged under 15 years.
Leukemia happens when the DNA of immature blood cells, mainly white cells, becomes damaged in some way, which causes the blood cells to grow and divide continuously, so that there are too many.
The spare parts dealers said they were donating blood freely as part of their contributions to saving lives. At the time of filing this report, more than 30 members had donated one pint of blood each.
The chairman of the Agidingbi Vehicle Spare Parts Market Association, Andy Udoka Ome, lauded his fellow spare parts sellers for their kind gesture.
“We know the situation in the country and know what it means to require blood transfusion. Blood is not manufactured anywhere, it is a natural thing deposited in the body of human beings by God. We have seen cases of accidents and sicknesses that required blood transfusion. Some of us may not be able to give out money to assist these people but we can donate our blood. We have many people moving around with excess blood. So, it is a way of giving to the society,” Ome said.
The spare parts dealer advocated for the creation of blood banks in localities where people can easily walk in to donate blood. “With this, blood can be given to ill patients free of charge. We need to save lives, whether known or unknown. We don’t know the people that will use the blood we have donated, but we have contributed our own quota to saving lives,” he added.
The founder of Timilehin Leukaemia Foundation, Mrs Janet Modupe Oyedele, who lost her only child to leukaemia a few years ago, while appreciating the donors, called on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of donating blood to save the lives of people suffering from deadly diseases.
Oyedele disclosed the desire of the Foundation to reach all states of the federation to educate people on the importance of donating blood so as to enable leukaemia patients and sufferers of other deadly diseases get blood for free.
“We want the blood banks to have sufficient blood and ensure fast and immediate replacement. We also want to sign up, at least, one million people as voluntary blood donors in Nigeria,” she said, while appealing for free medical treatment in all government hospitals for sufferers of deadly diseases to save their lives.
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