World Blood Donor Day

Cotonou, Benin, 14th June 2009.  Millions of people around the world owe their lives to individuals they will never meet — people who donate their blood to help others. 

But crew members on a Mercy Ship live and work just minutes away from the patients who receive their “gift of life” every day in West Africa.

The blood bank onboard the Africa Mercy is not stored in a refrigerator in neatly labelled packages for days or weeks.

Instead, the 400-person volunteer crew sign up to give blood on demand to help patients being treated in one of the six state-of-the-art operating theatres onboard the floating hospital.

“The Africa Mercy is unique,” says Sarah Louden, a medical technologist. “We usually have about 30 potential donors for each blood type.”

Louden says that currently 118 crew members onboard the Mercy Ship have signed up to donate blood on call.  Crew can be asked at any time day or night to give a pint. Often, the donation, still warm, is walked straight over to the patient.

Over sixty units of blood have been donated to twenty one patients since the ship began surgeries back in February.

First-time blood donor Marilyn Hansen, along with eleven other blood donors onboard the Africa Mercy, recently helped save the life of 34-year-old Ambroise, a patient who received surgery to remove a large, benign, but growing tumour.

Hansen says that she had never donated blood at home, but added that meeting the person whose life was changed by her donation has made all the difference.

“I got the call from the hospital lab, and they asked, ‘Come right now.’ They said a patient was currently in surgery and was losing a lot of blood.”

“Later I met Ambroise down in the ward. It was amazing to see him doing okay and to find out more about his family and his life here in Benin. Anywhere else, I’d never get the chance to do that,” commented Hansen.

Ambroise, who makes his living as a motorbike taxi driver, received more than twelve pints of blood during his surgery. 

Since childhood, he lived with a tumour on his shoulder. The tumour grew and spread along his arm. It was painful and debilitating.    He was not able to carry anything and had to wear a long-sleeved shirt every day because he was ashamed of the large growth.

When Ambroise was a baby, a doctor had told his parents they could perform surgery to remove the tumour. But his parents were afraid.  Later, when he was older, they could not afford it.

Now, after a free surgery onboard the Mercy Ship, Ambroise can drive his taxi all day without pain. He can lift and carry things. He is feeling strong and is thankful.