Rockingham blood donors needed

Donating blood at the age of 18 for the first time, Bruce Zilm managed to get to an incredibly 487 donations before a cancer diagnosis halted his plans to beat his donation record, however that hasn’t stopped him continuing to support the service in a different way over the festive season.

Over 61 years, Mr Zilm helped save countless lives, and is now urging others to do the same.

Although Mr Zilm has not been able to donate over the past few years, he is still just as passionate about the service, and each year pulls on the big red suit to make a visit to donors at the Rockingham Red Cross Blood Service.

Dressed up as Santa and spreading the festive cheer last week, Mr Zilm urged any-one thinking about donating over Christmas and New Year to make a booking, to ensure there was enough of a blood supply over the week.

A shortage of blood donors over the Christmas period in Rockingham has led the Red Cross to put the call-out for additional donors, with

Red Cross WA regional communications manager Jessica Willet saying 120 people were still needed to donate blood before New Year’s Eve.

“Currently just six people are booked in to donate on New Year’s Eve,” she said.

Ms Willet said the need for blood “didn’t take a break” over the Festive season, and that there were still patients in hospitals relying on blood donations.

“One blood component heavily relied on by cancer patients, platelets, has a shelf life of just five days, which means we need a constant supply,” he said.

The Rockingham Donor Centre is located Unit 3A, 1 Benjamin Way and will be open Thursday December 27 from 7am-1pm, Friday December 28 from 7am-12.45pm, Sunday December 30 from 7.30am-12.30pm and on Monday December 31 from 7.30am-1.30pm.