Donor still giving back after accident

SURVIVOR: Brent Baldwin, with his daughter Mackenzie, had a serious motorbike accident at 17. PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO 141114WCSMDONOR1

A terrible motorbike accident landed Brent Baldwin in a coma for nine weeks when he was just 17.

In the 27 years since, the Wanganui stay-at-home father has been a regular blood donor, motivated by the will to give people the second chance at life he had. "With my accident I lost a lot of blood and people had donated to make me survive, so why not do it for others?" he said.

He would recommend donating blood to others, and Wanganui isn't short on generous donors, though the city's red blood cell donations to the New Zealand Blood Service have been declining for the past five years.

Mr Baldwin's accident happened on April 14, 1988. He was on his way home from New Plymouth at night, going "a bit fast", when a car came around the corner at Virginia Lake with spotlights that blinded him. He hit the brakes, skidded on gravel and his leg hit a sign post. It was smashed up, and his lungs collapsed, and the young Brent spent six months in hospital. He had to relearn how to walk and talk, while ACC said he would never work again.

But when he recovered he wanted to work and lied to get and keep jobs, causing lasting damage to his feet and arms. He also has short term memory loss and takes medication for pain, but he likes to keep busy and looks after three children aged four to seven while wife Sharon works.

He doesn't ride motorbikes any more.

"I've now got a family, so I've blown that one basically. I've got wiser and my kids are more important than me."

His ongoing discomfort hasn't stopped him giving blood every three months - and he would give more if it was allowed.

"My advice to anyone thinking about donating is just do it - you could save someone's life."

The New Zealand Blood Service said the decline in donations reflected a decrease in demand for red blood cells and how often the service was able to get to the region, rather than a reduction in willing donors.

"We try to target what we actually need," Blood Service central area manager Alastair Neill said.

"It's really good if we can send out a message saying we're short on A+ blood, if you have A+ blood and can come down on Friday, get in touch."

Nationally, the number of red blood cell donations has decreased markedly in the past five years.

In the year to September 2009, there were 152,098 donations; in the past year they dropped to 120,006.

Blood Service spokeswoman Asuka Burge said demand had dropped due to a blood conservation project initiated in 2010. However, demand for plasma-only blood, used to control bleeding in patients following trauma or transplantation, has increased.

"Our focus is to encourage blood donors to consider becoming a plasma donor to help to meet this demand," Ms Burge said.

The next Wanganui blood drive is at the Pioneer Room at 2pm on November 25.