Donor and Recipient Stories

About 70,000 people receive blood transfusions and 26,000 receive platelet transfusions each year in Ireland. Read about the impact of blood donations on their lives. 

Having worked as a nurse in a bone marrow transplant unit for 12 years, Sinead saw first-hand the importance of blood and platelet transfusions. In 2019, she found herself on the receiving end of transfusions after the birth of twin girls.

"I received numerous units of red blood cells and platelets. Without the fantastic donors who give blood and platelets, I would not be here," she says. "I will be forever grateful to these fantastic donors and urge anyone who is eligible to please go and donate. Thank you for everything!"

Leila was born with a rare gene disorder that caused several medical issues, including bone marrow failure. She received her first blood transfusion at just 1 day old, and soon Leila required two platelet transfusions and one blood transfusion every week.

“Strangers were keeping our precious baby girl alive through their donations of blood and platelets.”

The only long-term treatment for Leila was a bone marrow transplant. Doctors found a match for Leila during the COVID pandemic. Her donor attended every appointment required, entering complete isolation for four weeks prior to the surgery. Ultimately, he donated his bone marrow to help cure Leila. She was just 11 months old.

“We considered these donors our superheroes. These were people who had no prior connection to her and who would never know her story. Without them, Leila wouldn’t have had a future, and we wouldn’t have the amazing daughter who lights up our world,” Leila’s mum, Stacey.

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."

Megan 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. 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! 

 Tell us your blood or platelet transfusion recipient or donor stories so we can share your story and inspire others!