Sikh Nation partners with blood bank to help fill desperate need for plasma donors
The Sikh Nation and Canadian Blood Services have partnered to encourage people to become plasma donors.
Karan Badhesha was at Canadian Blood Services in Sudbury Saturday giving plasma for the third time. He believes this kind of donation is priceless.
"You can't buy these things plasma or blood with money," said Karan Badhesha, a plasma donor. "Like for example if somebody need shelter or food or anything you can buy something. But this is something that doesn't come from money it comes from awareness, it comes from human to the next human. So this is a cause of humanity."
Sudbury was the first of three Plasma only collection centres in Canada.
"We call it liquid gold and that is simply because it can treat so many different illnesses," said Teri-Mai Armstrong, Canadian Blood Services manager of Business Development.
"Things like cancer, disease, RH in newborns, severe burns, immune deficiencies. There are so many different treatments that plasma can help."
Jasmeen Kaur donated plasma for the first time and admits she was anxious at first but says it felt great to make a difference.
"I was nervous excited when I went in. It all went really wonderful and I was nervous excited again. But then I feel proud like I am saving a life, I would be saving a life," said Jasmeen Kaur a plasma donor.
Jasmeen has already booked her next donation next month.
Canadian Blood Services said new donors are desperately needed.
"Sudbury needs to have 125 new donors per month to continue with the need and to continue to meet the collection demand. And so we are so appreciative of all the donors that have come out this far," said Armstrong.
Canadian Blood Services adds the need for plasma is four times greater than what is currently being collected in Canada.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.