Sudbury's blood donor clinic on Barrydowne Road held a special clinic on Sept. 19 in honour of three-year-old Nicholas Steinke.
Nicholas was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia before his third birthday. He was transfused with blood and platelets and flown to SickKids Hospital in Toronto.
When he was first diagnosed, Nicholas' blood consisted of 87-per-cent Leukemia cells and blood transfusions helped save his life.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the Sudbury Blood Donor Clinic is doing what they can to help Nicholas in his fight.
“It's a challenging time (finding donors) in September, people are busy with getting their kids back to school and getting back into their routines,” said Joanne Drake, territory manager, Canadian Blood Services.
“But there are a lot of children who don't get to go back to school because they're fighting cancer.”
Nicholas was at the clinic on Sept. 19, along with his mother, Kim and two brothers Thomas and Sullivan.
Kim spoke gratefully about the outpouring of support from the community in helping to ensure that there is blood available for Nicholas.
“It's absolutely wonderful, the support from the community,” said Kim. “It's not just people we know, but strangers as well, people who have never met Nicholas. They don't really know who they're saving with their donations but it can be little guys like (Nicholas).”
Nicholas is still in treatment, but is doing well and has come a long way according to his mother.
“He still needs blood transfusions, but how often depends on things like how he reacts to chemotherapy,” she said.
The family has been getting support from the community as well as other family members, and Kim was noticeably emotional when asked if she has been giving blood.
“I've tried many times, but the nurses have said that my veins are too small,” she said. “It's very frustrating that I can't do this for him. We're so thankful for everyone who donates blood.”
The Sudbury blood donor clinic has seen good response in donor numbers, but Drake says that they can always do better.
“Right now, we require about 248 units of blood per week and we're getting about 200,” said Drake. “It takes five units of blood for someone with cancer, and someone with Leukemia like Nicholas it can take as many as eight.”
Registering to become a blood donor is easy and can be done online at blood.ca.
The Sudbury blood donor clinic also accepts walk-ins to donate without an appointment, pending space is available.
