Durban - Westville Boys High School pupil Blake Allbon received several units of O-negative blood after the school appealed to the public to donate to increase his chances of receiving much-needed blood transfusions.
This comes as KwaZulu-Natal is experiencing a shortage of the O blood type.
A blood drive was held at the Westville Boys High on Tuesday, and the school also encouraged the public to donate at other blood donor centres.
People from across the country responded to the call and offered to donate in their cities.
Speaking to The Mercury on Wednesday, the school said Blake is doing much better.
“He does have a raised temperature, but that is being managed, and his HB (haemoglobin) is still low.”
According to the school, Blake’s doctor is confident that due to his age and fitness level, he will be discharged by the end of the week.
“Blake received seven units of blood in total after a massive gastric bleed, and while he does not need another transfusion, the donations yesterday (Tuesday) will go a long way to saving many lives in the coming weeks.”
The Allbon family thanked Westville Boys High School for initiating the blood drive and those who had supported the initiative by donating blood or sharing the notice to call for blood donors.
“The outpouring of kindness and concern has been truly overwhelming, and we are extremely grateful. It has been remarkable to see how communities can rally and just how amazing people are. We are happy to share that Blake himself is stable and will hopefully go from strength to strength from here. Thank you again to one and all for getting behind a wonderful drive to raise 0- blood and for all the support directed towards Blake and ourselves,” said the Allbon family.
In an update on the blood drive on Wednesday, the school said it was a humbling experience to watch the Westville community, as well as the greater Durban community, come together.
“What it translates to is 103 donations of 0-Negative blood units at WBHS. We have no way of knowing the numbers of donations at other centres or clinics, but we know that many that turned up opted to donate at less busy donor drives,” said the school.
The school believes that countless lives were saved by those who showed up for the drive.
“Thank you to those who donated to the SANBS, who worked tirelessly today (Tuesday). To our WBHS staff who, without question or complaint, rallied to make this happen in less than 24 hours, to all those who liked, commented or shared our posts, with a special mention to all the Durban and KZN schools who reached out as well.
“We take this opportunity to appeal to you all to become regular donors. You can all make a difference in this small way,” said Westville Boys High.
The school will host another donor drive next Friday.
Speaking to The Mercury on Thursday, SANBS spokesperson Khensani Mahlangu said there was a slight improvement with the Group O blood stocks in KwaZulu-Natal increasing from 3.3 days to 3.9 days.
However, Mahlangu said this is still far below where the SANBS would like the stocks to be.
SANBS called on individuals in the province between the ages of 16 and 75 to donate a unit of blood.
“We’re reaching out to existing and potential donors and remind everyone that we need people to commit to regular donation, once every 56 days, to keep blood stock levels stable,” she said.
Mahlangu said SANBS is currently running the Good Hood campaign aimed at bringing blood drives to people’s backyards.
“We appeal to the public to invite us to their churches, community halls and residential estates where we can set up blood drives, making donation efficient for you. We do all the work,” she said.
Donors and people interested in hosting blood drives can call us on 0800 119 031 or visit sanbs.org.za for more information. We are also active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – @theSANBS.
