Donor and Recipient Stories

About 70,000 people receive blood transfusions in Ireland each year. Here are some of the stories that recipients and their families have shared with us about the impact of blood donations on their lives.

Share your blood or platelet transfusion recipient or donor stories! Tell us how receiving or giving blood impacted you and your community so we can share your story and inspire others! Tell us your story. 

Megan's Leukemia Journey

Megan, now 30, was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at the age of 27. After her diagnosis, she received her first blood transfusion and discovered that she has A+ blood. "I remember reading the bag hanging over me and turning to my mum, who was obviously devastated, with the news, saying, 'That's the first time I've ever seen A+ next to my name!"

Throughout her treatment, she relied on numerous blood products. "I'm grateful to any A+ donor who gave blood around that time; they really did keep me afloat!"

Following a relapse, she was placed on the list for a bone marrow transplant. In 2023, she successfully received a transplant from a matched stranger.
"I am back to traveling and working now, which wouldn't have been possible without 1) getting a blood test, 2) receiving blood products, and 3) getting a bone marrow transplant."

Now well and back to her normal life, she hopes her story inspires others to become blood, platelets and bone marrow donors.

John's Story - "platelets saved my baby son from the worse nightmare that any parent can through - meningitis"

John is a committed platelet donor, having given over 100 donations. Its something that he takes time to do and it is important to him.

"my reason for donating is simple, a person 13 years ago took the time to donate platelets and those platelets saved my baby son from the worse nightmare that any parent can through - meningitis - and because of this he is grown up to be a fit and healthy 14 year old teenager. I will never know who that person is, but from the bottom of my heart I will always thanks them for taking the time out to donate". 

Vincent's Story - "I went full circle from being a platelet donor, to having a child who was to become a recipient of platelets." 

Vincent Donegan is a Firefighter/Paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade. He has been a dedicated blood donor and now a platelet donor for the last 28 years, since he was 18 years old! It is something he has always enjoyed doing.

"I always knew that my donations were going to very sick patients which was a driver for me to donate on a regular basis. It was only in 2009 that I realised how important each and every single donation that I had made was and how much it was needed. I went full circle from being a platelet donor, to having a child who was to become a recipient of platelets. In September 2009 our son Callan started primary school, that week he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia."

"8 years on, he marks a new milestone by starting secondary school. He has made this milestone thanks to all the donors out there who donated platelets and blood, without which he would not have beaten this disease. So to each and every one of you, thank you so much from him and us and please keep doing what you do to help others like him. And encourage others to donate. You are special."

 Nurse Ciara's Donor Story

One of our amazing donors, Ciara, got in touch to tell us about her experience as a donor and a nurse. She became a donor as soon as she turned 18, after seeing her mam giving blood for years.

“Over my nursing career I have lost track of the number of blood products I have administered to patients, the majority being children as I specialised in children's nursing as soon as I qualified. I really do see the life saving side of blood donations and that drives me to be a regular donor.”

Ciara’s 50th donation is coming up soon, which was a big goal of hers. “I will keep attending as long as I can and try and encourage others to do the same, every donation really does count.”

Tom's Story - "When you give blood you help people like Tom."

Photo shows Tom Doyle (6) and the giveblood.ie world cup at the Aviva stadium, with FAI referees (L to R) Robbie Hennessy, Rob Harvey, Tom Doyle, Darragh Keegan, Darren Carey, who are sponsored by Giveblood.ie.  

When you give blood you help people like Tom. When Tom was 9 months old he became very sick. What appeared to be an innocent tummy bug was in fact a bowel disorder called intussusception, a condition where the bowel folds over and blocks itself. Tom ended up losing over half his blood through internal bleeding and surgery. He developed sepsis and needed 24hr care in ICU. Tom received red cell transfusions to treat his low blood levels and coupled with antibiotics, he started on his road to recovery. After he received the blood his parents could see the colour return to his cheeks and it gave them great hope that he was going to recover. Tom is now a perfectly healthy 6 year old and totally sports mad!