Facebook plea benefits blood bank

This is Bev Duncan if needed. ((Woman from blood stock story))

This is Bev Duncan if needed. ((Woman from blood stock story))

Published Jan 17, 2014

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Durban - Thanks to selfless contributions by the Durban community, Bev Duncan, 49, has been able to undergo urgent brain surgery.

Blood stocks have been low the past few months, partially because holidays mean a lack of blood drives, particularly at schools where 40 percent of blood stocks come from.

However, after an appeal was made on Facebook by Duncan’s friends and a blood drive organised at the Musgrave Road branch of the The South African National Blood Service on Monday, more than 40 units of blood were collected and Duncan’s surgery could go ahead on Tuesday.

Close friend Duncan Good told the Daily News on Monday that Duncan’s surgery had to be postponed twice owing to a lack of blood stocks, which prompted the blood drive.

Duncan was prepped for surgery for a third time on Tuesday morning and, after a slight delay waiting for the blood to arrive, she underwent the four-hour procedure to remove a tumour from her brain.

“Bev is now out of ICU and her final results will be through on Friday,” Good told the Daily News. He said the response from the Durban community, and even abroad, had been overwhelming.

Glenashley resident Wally Griffiths, who needed two units of blood to relieve the symptoms of prostate cancer, is still waiting for the blood, although his wife, Helene, said they had been moved up the list and would receive the blood shortly.

The SA National Blood Service spokesman, Sifiso Khoza, said they had had a great response from blood drives across KwaZulu-Natal this week with one Lions Club in Kokstad organising a drive which brought in 148 units.

“We are currently at 1.8 days of stock, so the situation has improved. There was a backlog because hospitals requested more blood than we’ve got, but we are working through this.”

For more details, call the blood service at 0800 11 90 31.

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Daily News

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